The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : We will strive for workers' betterment: Iqbal Ansari

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 13, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

We will strive for workers' betterment: Iqbal Ansari

Staff Reporter

Demands will be looked into, says Minister

Iqbal Ansari

Bangalore: "The country will not be able to progress without the labour class, just like the body cannot function without the brain," said Iqbal Ansari, Minister for Labour and Minority Welfare.

He was speaking at the 15th annual conference of the Karnataka Workers' Union (KWU) here on Sunday.

The Minister promised labour leaders and workers that the new Government would work for their betterment. He received a memorandum from them and promised to look into the demands.

G.V. Sriram Reddy, Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLA, said the problems of the labour class had not been understood by either the Union or the State Governments.

"Even the World Trade Organisation meetings that were held recently in Hong Kong did not deliberate on the problems," he said.

He urged the Government to extend facilities such as provident fund, bonus, gratuity, etc., to the working class.

Demands

The demands of the union include the passage of the Unorganised Workers' Bill, a uniform model of minimum wages for all in different industries, a uniform dearness allowance for workers of different industries fixed at the rate of five paise per point on the consumer price index, raising the limit of profession tax from Rs. 2,500 to Rs. 6,500.

And, speedy disposal of cases in labour courts, more powers for labour courts so that the judges could enforce the judgments instead of forwarding them to the Labour Commissioner, abolition of the contract labour system, increase in safety measure in power press industry and increase in the Employees State Insurance compensation in case of accidents.

V.J.K. Nair, vice-president and State general secretary of Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU); S. Varalakshmi, State convenor of Working Women's Coordination Committee; Ganapathi Hegde, president of KWU; E.K.N. Rajan, general secretary of KWU, and R.D. Melchior, joint secretary of KWU, were present.

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