Tamil Nadu - Tiruchi   

ESI norms `crippling' industries

Staff Reporter

TIRUCHI: : The revised guidelines of the ESI Act have been causing additional fiscal commitment to industrialists, forcing them to meet extra expenditure by way of ESI coverage even for indirectly employed personnel, according to a cross-section of industrialists and ESI experts.

They suggested that a few clauses of the Act be suitably amended so as to bring about a more effective and meaningful implementation of the ESI norms.

Questioning the propriety of certain clauses, former ESI Manager from Coimbatore, N. Manickavasagam, pointed out that the employers were being overtaxed by these rules. Although it would be fair for an employer to make the ESI contribution for the direct employees on the pay-rolls of the firm, it would be unjustified to force them to make a similar payment for indirect workers.

He felt that amendments to a few Sections like 2 (9), 2 (13), 40 and 217 of the ESI Act would go a long way in relieving the employers of extra and unnecessary fiscal commitment.

He also said the ESI hospitals should be upgraded with additional infrastructure, instead of just using them as a `referral unit' for onward treatment in government hospitals.

The vice-president of the Tiruchi District Tiny and Small Scale Industries Association (TIDITSSIA), G. Shankar and its secretary, S. Abdul Rasheed said every expenditure under the `maintenance' head caused headache to the employers. They had to part with a huge sum both for maintenance and towards ESI. What was more surprising was that all the factories were being asked to remit the fee, with retrospective effect, they said.

The president of TIDITSSIA, S. Sridharan, said that there were other Acts such as EPF and Factories Act, which were not properly understood by many an entrepreneur and industrialist. The TIDITSSIA recently organised an exclusive seminar to explain the provisions of these Acts and the responsibilities of the industrialists in complying with them.

"It is only after unforeseen circumstances like the incidence of some industrial accident or other, the industrialists could realise the subscription rules for provident fund or the ESI. A series of amendments have been introduced and new regulations enforced which many industrialists are not fully aware", he said.

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