The Hindu : National : Bill for unorganised workers being redrafted

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Thursday, Sep 30, 2004

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National

Bill for unorganised workers being redrafted

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 29. The Labour Ministry is redrafting the Unorganised Sector Workers Bill, 2004, in consultation with central ministries, state governments and trade unions. The Social Security Scheme launched in 2001 for agricultural workers is also being reviewed to ensure effective involvement of all social partners.

This emerged during the meeting of the Labour Minister, Sis Ram Ola, with senior officials here today to review the performance of the Ministry and the implementation of the provisions relating to labour in the National Common Minimum Programme.

Minimum wages

The Minister has urged state governments not to allow the daily minimum wages to fall below the national floor level wage of Rs. 66 and monitor its implementation closely. It was stated that the Integrated Housing Scheme for beedi workers had been revised and financial assistance a unit doubled up to Rs. 40,000 from July this year. The eligibility ceiling had also been increased from Rs. 3,500 to Rs. 3,600.To improve the healthcare of beedi workers, the Ministry has also launched a pilot scheme under which a one-time maximum grant of Rs. 2 crore would be provided to state governments, the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) and NGOs for construction of hospitals.The ESIC has brought in its purview two lakh more workers by extending its coverage to 14 new geographical areas and increasing the wage ceiling limit from Rs. 6,500 to Rs. 7,500 during this period.

The Ministry has also formulated a scheme for upgrading of 500 existing industrial training institutes (ITIs) to "centres of excellence" for meeting international standards by craftsmen. The upgrading process is estimated to cost Rs. 500 crore.

One hundred ITIs would be upgraded this year through internal resources while the World Bank would assist for upgrading of the rest.Addressing the officials, Mr. Ola said the majority of our workers were still bereft of social security and other welfare measures and that needed to be looked into.

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