Workers in unorganised sector to be provided social security soon

Posted online: Thursday, August 07, 2008 at 0123 hrs Print Email

 

New Delhi, August 6: The UPA government is trying its best to woo around 40 crore unorganised workers, by scheduling to re-introduce the social security bill in the monsoon session of Parliament. The Bill, now renamed as The Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Bill 2008, has undergone some modifications, after it was referred back to labour and employment ministry by Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour, with certain suggestions.

Speaking to The Indian Express, a senior government official, close to the development, said that the labour and employment ministry is going to circulate the draft cabinet note on the matter within a month. “Later, it will be re-introduced in the Rajya Sabha in the upcoming monsoon session.”

The modified version of the Bill, a copy of which is available with The Indian Express, was introduced in Rajya Sabha in September 2007. The revised Bill appoints the union minister for labour and employment as the chairperson of the National Social Security Advisory Board. In its earlier version, the chairperson of the Board was to be appointed by the central government. The strength of this Board has been increased from 31 members to 34 members that will now include two representatives from Lok Sabha and one from Rajya Sabha. Similarly at the state level, the advisory board will be chaired by state’s labour and employment minister, with a renewed strength of 28 members.

The functions of the Board range from recommending related schemes to government, rendering administrative advise, monitoring such schemes, reviewing progress in registration of these workers and issuance of identity cards; and reviewing expenditure from the various scheme funds.

In an important modification, the Bill now states that the existing welfare schemes for these workers cannot be excluded by a government notification alone. It also directs the government to redress grievance to ensure effective implementation of schemes.

The Bill allows the state governments to set up Workers’ Facilitation Centres from time to time. These facilitation centres will disseminate information on existing social security schemes for unorganised workers and facilitate enrolment of registered unorganised workers in these schemes. In addition, these centres will also assist in registration of such workers and deliver the registration identity cards to these registered workers.

The refurbished Bill has also defined the ‘unorganised worker’ as an unorganised sector worker and also includes workers in the organised sector not covered by the existing laws relating to social security.

However, the Bill faces opposition from trade unions as they argue that it does not provide comprehensive and guaranteed social security to unorganised workers. With BJP and Left-parties opposed to some of the keys provisions, its passage is likely to face troubles.