The Hindu : Kerala News : Vacant posts hit settlement of cases

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Wednesday, Jun 04, 2008
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Kerala

Kerala

Vacant posts hit settlement of cases

R. Madhavan Nair

Crucial posts in the Labour Department remain unfilled for months

Appeals remain unresolved as post of Joint Labour Commissioners are vacant
Probation for recently-promoted officers pointed out as a reason for the delays

KOZHIKODE: Though successive governments led by the CPI(M) and the Congress have declared their unflinching commitment to the welfare of the labour class, the functioning of the Labour Department, which administers various welfare schemes initiated by the government, remains unsatisfactory.

This is mainly because of the delay in filling up posts that have the authority to decide on labour disputes.

The posts of Joint Labour Commissioner and Deputy Labour Commissioner are vacant in many districts. This has caused delay in settlement of many labour disputes, denying justice to employees.

For example, in Kozhikode nearly 300 appeals on cases over payment of gratuity are pending settlement. Some of these cases are based on disputes that are nearly four decades old.

One such case is that of Karthianiamma who filed a claim for gratuity of her husband after he died in 1963. The management of the company had refused to pay the gratuity, according to her complaint. The case was filed before the District Labour Officer (DLO) in 1994. The DLO’s order was in her favour, but the employer went on appeal in June 2007 before the Joint Labour Commissioner. No hearing has been held on the appeal so far.

Another case pending settlement is an appeal on an order on the head-load workers Act. Though the case was filed by unions on behalf of three workers, its outcome would affect nearly 1,000 head-load workers, a department source said.

The delay happens mostly on appeals because it is the Joint Labour Commissioner who has to take the decision on appeals on cases on payment of gratuity as the appellate authority under the payment of gratuity Act. (The official is also the appellate authority under the head-load workers Act.)

Other posts that are vacant in the Labour Department include one post of Additional Labour Commissioner; the post of Joint Labour Commissioner in Kozhikode; the post of District Labour Officer in Kasaragod and that of Deputy Labour Officer in Wayanad.

The posts of chief welfare officer and inspectors are vacant on the Motor Workers’ Welfare Board; Labour Welfare Fund Board, Thiruvananthapuram; Cashew Workers’ Welfare Board; Head-load Workers’ Welfare Board, Ernakulam; Kerala Tailoring Workers’ Welfare Board, Thiruvananthapuram; Kerala Handloom Workers’ Welfare Board; and Beedi Workers’ Welfare Board.

Senior employees of the department believe the delay in disposal of cases is because of the decision that officials have to be on probation after they are promoted to a higher grade.

Labour Department employees have raised the demand that probation should be only at the start of the career.

The demand has however been ignored by the government.

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