The Hindu : `ILO aiming at better deal for women workers'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Oct 14, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

`ILO aiming at better deal for women workers'

By Our Special Correspondent

The Minister for Labour, Qamar-ul-Islam, greeting the Director, Gender Promotion Programme, ILO, Lin Lean Lim, at a seminar on women beedi workers in Bangalore on Monday. The Minister for Women and Child Development, Motamma, and the Labour Secretary, T.Y. Nayaz Ahmed, are seen. — Photo: T.L. Prabhakar

Bangalore Oct. 13. Lin Lean Lim, Director, Gender Promotion Programme (GPP), International Labour Organisation (ILO), said here today that the GPP was aimed at ensuring there were more and better jobs for women.

Participating in a seminar on `Improving working conditions and employment opportunities for women beedi workers', Ms. Lim said while the ILO's initiatives included ensuring "decent work", it was also looking at non-beedi sources of employment for women.

Women beedi workers, she said, represented a large and highly vulnerable group, particularly with the beedi industry coming under tremendous pressure.

Falling income and women not being aware of their rights were making them work in hazardous conditions.

Changing consumer preferences, competition from multinational tobacco companies, tobacco control legislation, etc., had made the ILO think of other employment opportunities for women.

The ILO strategy was "know how, show how", and demonstrations with the help of self-help groups were planned on alternative employment opportunities.

The primary goal of ILO was to work with government agencies and social groups to promote decent work with elementary principles — productive and remunerative opportunities; proper working conditions; social protection; and social development.

She hoped that the seminar would come out with a State-level action plan and that the ILO would provide technical support for implementation. The Minister for Labour, Qamar-ul-Islam, said the State Government would introduce a comprehensive Bill to help workers in the unorganised sector.

There were about 90 lakh labourers in the unorganised sector in the State and they needed to be taken care of.

With regard to beedi workers, he said 97 per cent of them were women and the Government was thinking of coming out with a policy decision wherein women workers would have six days of work in a week.

He said that different States had fixed different wages and manufacturers took advantage of this to the detriment of workers. The State Government was taking steps to ensure that the workers received minimum wages and that the health needs of the workers were not ignored.

The Chairperson of the Karnataka State Women's Commission, Philomena Peris, urged the Government to issue identity cards to beedi workers and also to set up healthcare centres near manufacturing units.

The Labour Secretary, T.Y. Nayaz Ahmed, welcomed the gathering.

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