Message for 'May Day'
PRESS INFORMATION BUREAU
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
*****
SHRI MALLIKARJUN KHARGE GREETS LABOUR FRATERNITY ON THE EVE OF INTERNATIONAL LABOUR DAY
New Delhi, 10 Vaisakha , 1935
30 April , 2013
Union
Labour & Employment Minister Shri Mallikarjuna Kharge has greeted
the Labour Fraternity on the eve of International Labour Day for their
well being in all walks of life. On this occasion he has reiterated the
Governments resolve to continuously pursue its efforts to promote the
welfare of workers.
Following is the text of Ministers Message:
“The
1st of May is celebrated all over the World as International Labour Day
to honour the contribution and sacrifice made by the working class. On
this occasion, I extend my warmest greetings and best wishes to workers
all over the country. This day reminds us that only with the mutual
cooperation of workers,employers, Governments and the Civil Society, we
can lay a solid foundation in building our Nation.
I take this
opportunity to recapitulate that in the recent past the Government of
India has undertaken several important measures for improving the
working conditions and welfare of the working class.
A Health
Insurance Scheme for the poor titled ‘Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana’
(RSBY) has become operational from 01.04.2008. The scheme envisages
provision of health insurance to unorganized workers with smart card
based cashless hospitalization facilities worth up to Rs.30,000/-. As on
31.03.2013, more than 3.44 crore cards have been issued, more than
11.00 crore members are expected to be benefited from this Scheme and
51.68 lakh people have availed the hospitalization benefits. The
coverage of RSBY has been extended to street vendors,construction
workers, Beedi workers, domestic workers, MGNREGA workers and licensed
Railway porters.
Impact of RSBY is visible in improvement in
access to healthcare, health infrastructure being set up in remote areas
by the private sector, Public Sector hospitals competing and improving
performance to gain access to flexible funds and incentives provided
under RSBY, penetration in the areas affected by extremist activities
and marked improvement in utilization of services by women in the
scheme.
In pursuance of Government’s commitment to eliminate
child labour in hazardous occupations and processes, the National Child
Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme is being implemented in 271 districts. As a
result, 8.52 lakh children from special schools of NCLPs have been
mainstreamed into the formal education system. Due to various
initiatives taken by the Ministry of Labour & Employment, there has
been significant drop in the number of child labour from an estimated
90.75 lakh during 2004-05 to 49.85 lakh in 2009-10 as revealed in the
recent fourth round of NSSO Survey. A Bill has also been introduced in
Parliament to amend the Child Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act,
1986. The Bill, when passed, will make the provisions of Child Labour
Act more stringent and also link the age of the prohibition with the age
of children under Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act. The
proposed amendment would also enable India to ratify ILO Convention
No.138 and 182.
Emphasis is being given to upgrade training
skills. With a view to creating a world-class skilled labour force,
training courses are being offered through a network of 2271 Government
and 8073 Private Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs). These institutes
cumulatively offer 14.66 lakh training seats. Under the schemes of
modernization of ITIs, a total of 1727 Government ITIs are being
modernized / upgraded including 400 ITIs with World Bank assistance.
Under
the Scheme of “Skill Development Initiative”, demand driven short-term
training courses based on Modular Employable Skill framework have been
developed for skill development of the school leavers and workers
especially in the informal sector. 14.81 lakh persons have been trained
since inception.
The Ministry has proposed a new scheme namely,
"Kaushal Vikas Yojana" to set up 3000 ITls & 5000 Skill Development
Centres (SDCs) in PPP mode across the country . The Ministry also
proposes to constitute a National Board of Trade Testing and
Certification (NBTTC) to conduct trade examination for various schemes
of DGE&T / NCVT. It will have independent functioning and will have
no interferences from the Government in conducting the tests. Ministry
of Labour and Employment has moved a proposal for making NCVT a
statutory body.
A Mission Mode Project to upgrade and modernize
all employment exchanges has been taken up and a National Web Portal is
being developed to serve as a virtual job market.
The Employees’
State Insurance Corporation has taken up new initiatives to improve the
quality of service delivery. These include coverage of new geographical
areas, implementation of an IT rollout plan and medical education
projects.
As part of the effort towards the automation of work
processes to achieve efficiency and improve service delivery, all
offices of EPFO have been computerized, with facility for electronic
submission of statutory EPF returns with effect from 2012-13.
The
members can now get their PF balances, status of claims and payments
online as well as receive SMS alerts on their mobile phones after
registering on “http://www.epfindia.gov.in”.
The Government has
been playing a key role not only in identifying the areas that needed
changes in legislations but also in formulating the regulations keeping
in view the changing needs of the working class. During the last year,
the amendment Bills in respect of following Acts has been introduced in
the Parliament: -
The Child Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1986
The Building and Other Constructions Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996.
The Building and Other Constructions Workers Cess Act, 1996. During the
period, the Government has also approved to approach the Parliament to
amend: -
The Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Act, 1959
The
Minimum Wages Act, 1948 The amendment in the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 ,
inter-alia, provide statutory status to the National Floor Level Minimum
Wage (NFLMW), will make the Act applicable to all employments, provide
for the revision of NFLMW every five year on the basis of NSSO
ConsumerExpenditure Survey, link NFLMW with variable dearness allowance
(VDA) to be notified atleast once in a year on the basis of Consumer
Price Index and provide for issue of employment cards to the employees
which would be Aadhaar compliant, etc.
I am happy to inform that a
Newsletter is being brought out every quarter to provide information on
various labour related initiatives for the welfare of the working class
and it is providing an effective channel of communication between the
Government and the social partners. While reiterating that we would
continuously pursue our efforts to promote the welfare of workers, I
once again convey my best wishes on this auspicious day.”
