45th Session of the Standing Labour Committee
Finalizes Agenda for the 45th Indian Labour Conference
‘Rapid economic growth’ coupled with ‘Safeguarding the rights of the
workers’ will lay the foundation of our country’s development in a
sustained manner. Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Minister of Labour and
Employment, emphasized this while delivering his presidential address at
the 45thsession of Standing Labour Committee here today at Vigyan
Bhawan. He laid stress on the proactive measures to improve the
situation of the workers in general and those of the vulnerable sections
of the society in particular. According to him the concept of ‘Dignity
of human labour’ and ‘Safeguarding the interest of our work-force’
should be the cornerstone of all our policies. He stated that active
labour market policies and speedy Social Security coverage are the two
basic requirements of our present day society. Shri Kharge said that one
of the contemporary challenges is employment generation. In this regard
MGNREGA has been able to provide income support and has contributed
towards checking distress migration. Other employment generation
programmes like National Rural Livelihood Mission, Swarna Jayanti
Shahari Rozgar Yojna and Prime Minister’s Employment Generation
Programme etc. have also contributed a lot towards providing livelihood
security.
Labour and Employment Minister also spoke about various legislative
steps taken by his Ministry for Labour Welfare in recent years. These
are:-
· Increase of wage ceiling in the Payment of Wages Act, 1936;
· Amendments in the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 for speedy reconciliation and settlement of disputes;
· Provision of reservation for OBC in the Apprenticeship Act, 1961;
· Increase in Wage Ceiling in the Bonus Act;
· Increase of Medical Bonus under the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961;
· Increase in gratuity ceiling to Rs.10 Lakh.
Shri Kharge further stated that the process of amendment in the Mines
Act, 1952 is in progress. Cabinet has approved amendments in the Child
Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, which will facilitate
ratification of ILO Convention 138 and 182. He said that 94 % of our
workforce is in the unorganized sector. This area requires relentless
efforts and innovative indigenous solutions. Strategies for bringing
improvement in this area should aim at improving Labour Legislation and
Labour Administration. According to him extending organizational support
and augmenting bargaining power of the unorganized workers should be a
priority.
According to Labour and Employment Minister India faces a mammoth
challenge in the area of skill training. Because of Government’s intense
efforts we have been able to increase the number of ITIs to more than
10,000 and improved the infrastructure of existing ITIs. Modular
Employable Skill is one of the ambitious schemes of Ministry to address
the employment needs of the unorganized sector. Government has been able
to develop 1,422 short term courses for providing skills in a short
span to a large number of people. Shri Kharge stated that 27 States/UTs
are implementing RSBY and more than 3.35 crore smart cards have been
issued. More than 46.75 lakh persons have availed hospitalization
facilities.
Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Shri K. Suresh stated that
Ministry of Labour and Employment is always guided by the spirit of
tripartism and it works towards creation of harmonious relationship and
conducive industrial environment. He further stated that we should
ensure that labour-management relations in our countries must be marked
by confrontation, cooperation and consensus, not confirmation. Any
proactive step in this regard will act as a catalyst in sustaining our
growth momentum which is also very essential to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals, particularly poverty eradication.
The Standing Labour Committee finalized the following agenda for 45th Indian Labour Conference:
1. Service conditions, wages and social security for various
categories of workers employed in different Central Government and State
Government schemes (Anganwadi, Mid-day meal, ASHA, Sarva-Shiksha
Abhiyan and other schemes under various Ministers of Central Government.
2. Social Security with special reference to Assured Pension with indexation for all workers including self-employed.
3. Labour Law for micro and small enterprises
4. Measures to improve employment and employability
Following Labour Ministers from various States attended this Session of the Standing Labour Committee:
1) Shri Prithibi Majhi, Minister of Labour & Employment, Government of Assam;
2) Shri Janardan Singh Sigriwal, Minister of Labour Resources Department, Government of Bihar;
3) Sh. Chandra Shekhar Sahu, Minister of Labour Department, Govt. of Chhattisgarh;
4) Pt. Shiv CharanLal Sharma, Labour & Employment Minister, Govt. of Haryana;
5) Shri Abdul Gani Malik, Minister of Higher Education, Labour & Employment, Govt. of J&K;
6) Shri Shibu Baby John, Labour Minister, Government of Kerala;
7) Shri Mangilal Garasia, Minister of State (Labour) Labour & Employment Department, Govt. of Rajasthan; and
8) Shri Harish Chandra Durgapal, Minister of Labour & Employment, Uttrakhand.
The Central Ministries participating in the meeting were:
Agriculture & Cooperation, Animal Husbandry, Dairying &
Fisheries, Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Coal, Commerce, Economic
Affairs, Environment & Forests, Financial Services, Heavy
Industries, Health & Family Welfare, Home Affairs (Inter State
Council), Industrial Policy & Promotion, Khadi and Small and Medium
Enterprises, Mines, Overseas Indian Affairs, Petroleum & Natural
Gas, Planning Commission, Posts, Power, Public Enterprises, Railways,
Revenue, Road Transport & Highways, Rural Development, Social
Justice & Empowerment, Steel Telecommunications, Textiles, Urban
Development and Women & Child Development.
From Employers Group following organizations attended the meeting:
Council of Indian Employers, All India Manufacturers’ Organization,
LaghuUdhyogBharati, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce &
Industry, Confederation of Indian Industry, The Associated Chambers of
Commerce & Industry of India.
From Workers Group following organizations attended the meeting:
BharatiyaMazdoorSangh, Indian National Trade Union Congress, All India
Trade Union Congress, Hind MazdoorSabha, Centre of Indian Trade Unions,
All India United Trade Union Centre, Trade Union Co-ordination Centre
(TUCC), Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), All India Central
Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), Labour Progressive Federation (LPF),
United Trades Union Congress (UTUC) and National Front of Indian Trade
Unions –Dhanbad (NFITU-DHN).
