Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Saturday, Jun 21, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Saturday, Jun 21, 2003 |
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Industry & Economy
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Labour Reforms Welfare board likely for unorganised sector workers Ambarish Mukherjee
NEW DELHI, June 20 THE Ministry of Labour is contemplating a 23-member board for the welfare of workers in the unorganised sector. According to the proposed Unorganised Sector Worker's Act, 2003, the Central Unorganised Sector Worker's Welfare Board will comprise representatives of non-Government organisations (NGOs), unorganised sector employers, unorganised sector workers and bureaucrats, Government officials said. According to the provisions laid down in the draft Bill, which is expected to be placed before the Cabinet shortly, the Labour Minister will be the Chairman of the board, the Minister of State for Labour the Vice-Chairman and the Director-General (Labour Welfare) will be the ex-officio Member Secretary. Five bureaucrats in the rank of joint secretary and above will be members of the board by rotation. There will be five representatives each from the employers, employees and NGOs, taking the total number to 23. The Central Board will, in turn, initiate steps for creation of State boards, State welfare boards and employment based welfare boards, district boards and workers facilitation centres (WFCs) for unorganised workers; and creation of welfare funds on the basis of cess and contribution. However, the funding pattern is still unclear. Since the entire exercise is being considered through voluntary contributions and it is not a statutory obligation, implementation of the schemes, which the board will eventually formulate, poses a problem, according to the Labour Ministry sources. The main features of the draft Bill include provisions of minimum economic and social security, provision of old age/invalidity benefits, group insurance, medical and sickness benefits and employment injury benefits, registration of unorganised workers and issue of identity cards. There are 37 crore workers in the unorganised sector, classified under 125 categories, including those who are self-employed.
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