Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Social Security and Labour Welfare in India: A Review
Social Security and Labour Welfare in India: A Review
Social security is one of the pillars on which the structure of a welfare state rests,
and it constitutes the hard core of social policy in most countries. It is through
social security measures that the state attempts to maintain every citizen at a
certain prescribed level below which no one is allowed to fall. It is the security
that society furnishes through appropriate organization, against certain risks to
which its members are exposed (ILO, 1942). Social security system comprises
health and unemployment insurance, family allowances, provident funds,
pensions and gratuity schemes, and widows’ and survivors’ allowances. The
essential characteristics of social insurance schemes include their compulsory and
contributory nature; the members must first subscribe to a fund from which
benefits could be drawn later. On the other hand, social assistance is a method
according to which benefits are given to the needy persons, fulfilling the
prescribed conditions, by the government out of its own resources.
The present section reviews labour welfare activities in India with
particular emphasis on the unorganized sector. Although provisions for
workmen’s compensation in case of industrial accidents and maternity benefits
for women workforce had existed for long, a major breakthrough in the field of
social security came only after independence. The Constitution of India (Article
41) laid down that the State shall make effective provision for securing the right
to public assistance in case of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement
and in other cases of underserved want. The Government took several steps in
compliance of the constitutional requirements. The Workmen’s Compensation
Act (1926) was suitably revised and social insurance programmes were
developed for industrial workers. Provident funds and gratuity schemes were
introduced in most industries, and maternity legislation was overhauled.
Subsequently, State governments instituted their own social assistance
programmes. The provisions for old age comprise pension, provident fund, and
gratuity schemes. All the three provisions are different forms of retirement
benefits. Gratuity is a lump sum payment made to a worker or to his/her heirs by
the company on termination of his/her service due to retirement, invalidity,
retrenchment or death (Vajpayee and Shanker, 1950).
Welfare
Definitions:
Labour welfare has been defined in various ways, though
unfortunately no single definition has found universal acceptance. The
Oxford Dictionary defines labour welfare as “efforts to make life worth
living for worker”
Chamber’s Dictionary defines welfare as “a state of faring or
doing well; freedom from calamity, enjoyment of health, prosperity.”
The ILO report refers to labour welfare as “such services,
facilities, and amenities, which may be established in, or in the vicinity of
undertakings to enable persons employed therein to perform their work in
healthy and congenial surroundings and provided with amenities
conducive to good health and high morale”.
Features:
On the basis of the various definitions, the basic characteristics of
labour welfare work may be noted thus:
1. It is the work which is usually undertaken within the premises or in the
vicinity of the undertakings for the benefit of the benefit of the employees
and the members of their families.
2. The work generally includes those items of welfare which are over and
above what the employees expect as a result of the contract of service from
the employers.
3. The purpose of providing welfare amenities is to bring about development
of the whole personality of the worker -his social, psychological, economic,
moral, cultural and intellectual development to make him a good worker, a
good citizen and a good member of the family.
4. These facilities may be provided voluntarily by progressive and
enlightened entrepreneurs at their own accord out of their realization of
social responsibility towards labour, or statutory provisions may compel
them to make these facilities available; or these may be undertaken by the
government or trade unions, if they have the necessary funds for the
purpose.
5. Labour welfare is a very broad term, covering social security and such
other activities as medical aid, crèches, canteens, recreation, housing, adult
education, arrangements for the transport of labour to and from the work
place.
6. It may be noted that not only intra-mural but also extra-mural, statutory as
well as non-statutory activities, undertaken by any of the three agencies- the
employers, trade unions or the government- for the physical and mental
development of the worker, both as a compensation for wear and tear that he
undergoes as a part of the production process and also to enable him to
sustain and improve upon the basic capacity of contribution to the processes
of production, “which are all the species of the longer family encompassed
by the term ‘labour welfare’.
Democratic values
The principle of democratic values of labour welfare concedes that workers
may have certain unmet needs for no fault of their own, that industry has an
obligation to render them help in gratifying those needs, and that workers
have a right of determining the manner in which these needs can be met and
of participating in the administration of the mechanism of need gratification.
The underlying assumption to this approach is that the worker is a mature
and rational individual who is capable of taking decisions for
himself/herself.
Adequacy of wages
The third principle of labour welfare is adequacy of wages; it implies that
labour welfare measures are not a substitute for wages. It will be wrong to
argue that since workers are given a variety of labour welfare services, they
need be paid only low wages. Right to adequate wage is beyond dispute.
Efficiency
The fourth principle of labour welfare lays stress on the dictum that to
cultivate welfare is to cultivate efficiency. Even those who deny any social
responsibility for industry do accept that an enterprise must introduce all
such labour welfare measures which promote efficiency (Marshall, 1950). It
has been often mentioned that workers’ education and training, housing, and
diet are the three most important aspects of labour welfare, which always
accentuate labour efficiency.
Re-personalization
Since industrial organisation is rigid and impersonal, the goal of welfare in
industry is the enrichment and growth of human personality. The labour
welfare movement seeks to bring cheer, comfort, and warmth in the human
relationship by treating man as an individual, with quiet distinct needs and
aspirations. Social and cultural programmes, recreation and other measures
designed after taking into consideration the workers’ interests go a long way
in counteracting the effects of monotony, boredom, and cheerlessness.
Co-responsibility
The sixth principle of labour welfare recognises that the responsibility for
labour welfare lies on both employers and workers and not on employers
alone (Moorthy, 1958). Labour welfare measures are likely to be of little
success unless mutuality of interest and responsibilities are accepted and
understood by both the parties, in particular the quality of responsibility at
the attitudinal and organisational level.
Totality of welfare
The final principle of labour welfare is that the concept of labour welfare
must permeate throughout the hierarchy of an organisation, and accepted by
all levels of functionaries in the enterprise.
Approaches
The issue of labour welfare may be studied from different angles, such as:
• The location, where these amenities are provided, within and outside
the industrial undertakings;
• The nature of amenities such as those concerned conditions of
employment and
• The welfare activities termed as ‘statutory’, ‘voluntary’ and ‘mutual’.
• The agencies which provide living conditions of work people; these
amenities.
• On the basis of location of welfare activities, labour welfare work has
been classified by Broughton in two specific categories, namely,
(a)intramural(b)extra-mural
(a)Intra-mural activities: consist of such welfare schemes provided within
the factories as medical facilities, provision of crèches, and canteens, supply
of drinking water, washing and bathing facilities, provision of safety
measures such as fencing and covering of machines, good lay-out of
machinery and plant, sufficient lighting, first-aid appliances; activities
relating to improving conditions of employment, recruitment and discipline
and provision of provident fund and gratuity, maternity benefits,etc.
(b)Extra-mural activities: cover the services and facilities provided outside
the factory such as, housing accommodation, indoor and outdoor recreation
facilities, amusement and sports, educational facilities for adults and
children, provision of libraries and reading rooms.
In the welfare activities concerned with conditions of employment
are included activities for the management of problems arising out of hours
of work, wages, holidays with pay, rest intervals, sanitation, continuity of
employment, control over the recruitment of female and juvenile labour,
while all such schemes of benefits as co-operative societies, legal and
medical aid, and housing are included in the category of activities concerned
with conditions of workers.
Labour welfare work may be statutory, voluntary or mutual. It is
statutory when such activities have to be undertaken in furtherance of the
legislation adopted by the government. It is voluntary when the activities are
undertaken at their own accord by the employers or some philanthropic
bodies or when a labour organisation undertakes such activities for the
welfare of their members. It is mutual, when all parties join hands to bring
about the social and economic uplift of the workers.
The National Commission on labour has classified various labour
welfare measures under two distinct classes:
(1)those which have to be provided, irrespective of the size of the
establishment or the number of the persons employed therein such as
facilities relating to washing, storing, drying the clothing, first-aid, drinking
water, latrines and urinals
(2)those which are to be provided subject to the employment of a specified
number of persons, such as canteen, rest shelter, crèche, ambulance,etc.
According to the Encyclopedia of social sciences, “industrial
welfare work ”has taken numerous forms such as:
(a)those dealing with immediate working conditions are special provisions
for adequate light, heat, ventilation, toilet facilities, accident and
occupational disease prevention, lunch room, rest room, maximum hours,
minimum wages,etc.;
(b)those concerned with less immediate working conditions and group
interests, are gymnasiums ,club rooms, play grounds, gardens, dancing,
music, house organs, mutual aid societies, vacation with pay, profit-sharing,
stockownership, disability and unemployment funds, pensions, savings
banks, provisions for conciliation and arbitration, shop committees and
workers councils;
(c)those designed to improve community conditions, such as housing, retail
stores, schools, libraries, kinder gardens, lectures on domestic sciences, day
nurseries, dispensary and dental service screening of motion pictures,
arranging athletic contests and picnics and summer camps.
Central Sector
There are Four types of initiatives through the Plan for the Labour and
Labour Welfare Sector. They are:
Many initiatives are taken for the benefit of workers through the plans of a
number of Labour Intensive Sectors. These are not discussed here because
they fall under the purview of respective sectoral programmes of the plan.
Training is imparted mainly in engineering trades. A few trades out side the
engineering field are also covered but the bulk of the services sector and
other needs of industries other than manufacturing, are not handled by
DGE&T.
Two major resources for such training are the Industrial Training Institutes
(ITIs) and the 25000 industrial establishments that take part in Apprentice
Training. There has been a significant growth and expansion in the network
of ITIs which have grown to 4086 in the public and private sector with a
seating capacity of 6.41 lakh as on 31.12.1998 (State-wise details presented
in Annexure 5.7.3) and another 2.59 lakh under the Trade Apprentice
Scheme. Apprenticeship training scheme provides practical training in 135
designated trades to train apprentices in 97 subject fields in engineering and
technology for graduates and diploma holders and 94 subject fields for
technicians.
The National Vocational Training Institute at NOIDA (UP) and the Regional
vocational Training Institutes for Women in different parts of India impart
basic and advance levels of vocational training to women. A women's cell
under the office of DGE&T is also coordinating with the states in the matter
of vocational training for women. In the Ninth Plan, a Centrally Sponsored
Scheme "Establishment of new ITIs in the North Eastern States and in
Jammu and Kashmir" is proposed.
One of the major concerns of the Government has been the improvement of
labour welfare with increasing productivity and provision of a reasonable
level of social security. The planning process attempts to achieve these goals
by monitoring working conditions and creation of industrial harmony
through an infrastructure for healthy industrial relations.
Special drives for inspections under the Crash Programmes & Task Force
inspections were organised during the year for extending coverage of labour
laws like the Minimum Wages Act, Payment of Wages Act, Equal
Remuneration Act & Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act to
workers in the unorganised/informal sector. A total of 1074(P) inspections
under the above enactments were carried out during the year 1998 as a result
of which 15938(P) irregularities and 489(P) cases of under payments/non
payments were detected.
The Ministry of Labour is administering five welfare funds for beedi, cine
and certain categories of non coal mine workers. the funds have been and set
up under the following Acts of Parliament:
Agriculture Workers
Several measures have been taken to protect the interests of the agricultural
workers. The very first legislation-the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 is applied
to the agriculture sector also. Measures have also been taken to look into the
interest of construction workers. Many enactments were extended to the
include construction workers.
Child Labour
Women Labour
The Ministry of Labour has set up a Women Labour Cell in 1975. The
intention was to focus attention on the lot of working women with a view to
improving it. An important activity of the Cell is to convene the meeting of
the Central Advisory Committee which has been constituted under the Equal
Remuneration Act, 1976 and follow up the recommendations made by the
Committee. Another important activity of the Women Cell is to examine and
process project proposals to carry out studies on matters affecting women
workers and also to fund programmes aimed at improving their economic
well being. Several projects aimed at improving the working conditions of
women and raising their economic level were processed by the Women Cell
of the Ministry of Labour during 1998-99. The Cell also give grants-in-aid to
voluntary organisation to carry out research studies on problems of women
workers, their employability and the extent of their displacement on account
of technological and various other changes. This scheme was introduced
with the intention of furthering Government’s policy of helping women
workers to become aware of their rights and opportunities and also become
economically independent.
Labour Statistics
Workers' Education
The V.V. Giri National Labour Institute, a fully funded autonomous body of
the Ministry of labour, conducts action oriented research and provides
training to grass root level workers in the trade union movement, both in the
urban and rural areas and also to officers dealing with industrial relations,
personnel management, labour welfare etc.
Social Security
The principal social security laws enacted centrally are the following:
Some of the State Governments have attempted to enhance the utility of the
employment service set-up. The Government of Gujarat has attempted to
utilise the employment service set-up at the Taluka level by bringing the job
seekers and the job providers together in Bharti Melas. The Maharashtra
Government, in its programme of State-wide employment guarantee, intends
to use the employment exchanges to identify the beneficiaries. The West
Bangal Government has provided unemployment allowance to those
registered, and in the process has generated some information on the number
of unemployed persons in the State, by identifying them.
Social insurance:
The features of social insurance are:
• It is financed entirely by or mainly from the common monetary
contributions of workers, employers and the state.
• The state and the employers make major contribution to this fund,
while the employees pay only a nominal amount.
• When there is total or partial loss of income, these benefits, within
limits, ensure the maintenance of the beneficiary’s minimum standard
of living.
• Social insurance benefits are granted without an examination of an
individual’s need and without any means test, without affecting the
sense of self respect of the beneficiary.
• These benefits are so planned as to cover, on a compulsory basis, all
those who are sought to be covered.
• Social insurance reduces the suffering arising out of the contingencies
faced by an individual –contingencies which he cannot prevent.
Social assistance:
Social assistance is provided as a supplement to social insurance for those
needy person who cannot get social insurance payments, and is offered after
a means test. The general revenues of the government provide the finance
for social assistance payments, which is made available as a legal right to
those workers who fulfil given conditions. Social assistance and social
insurance go side by side. Social assistance programmes cover such
programmes as unemployment assistance, old- age assistance, public
assistance and national assistance.
Social security is the combination of social assistance and social
insurance. Social insurance, however, falls midway between the two, for it is
financed by the stste as well as by the insured and their employers;whereas
social assistance is given gratis to the needy by the state or the community.
Public service:
Public service programmes constitute the third main type of social security.
They are financed directly by the government from their general revenues in
the form of cash payment and services to every member of the community
falling within the defined category. This kind of public service is currently
available in a number of countries in the form of national health service
providing medical care for every person in the country, old-age pension,
pension for invalidism, survivor’s pension to every widow or orphan, and a
family allowance to every family having a given number of children.
Although these social security programmes have different
characteristics, it is not always easy to draw a line of demarcation among
them. In many cases, two or even three programmes have common
characteristics. Apart from state there are many other agencies which
provide se4curity against contingencies. In many countries trade union have
their own sickness, old-age, unemployment schemes. Saving funds, sickness
benefits and old-age pensions have also been provided by a large number of
organisations to their employees.“ The underlying idea of social security
measures is that a citizen, who has contributed, or is likely to contribute to
his country’s welfare, should be given protection against certain hazards”.
The 1952 ILO convention on social security (minimum
standard)divided social security into nine components:
(i) Survivor’s benefit: This should cover periodical payments to the family
following the death of its breadwinner and should continue the entire period
of contingency.
The ILO has suggested various methods of organizing, establishing
and financing various social security schemes. For the benefit of the less
developed countries, it has fixed the level of benefits fairly low, so that the
schemes may be practicable.
Social security and unorganised labour
Social security is the protection which society provides for its members,
through a series of public measures, against the economic and social distress
that otherwise would be caused by the stoppage or substantial reduction in
earnings resulting from sickness, maternity, employment injury,
unemployment, invalidity, old age and death; provision of medical care, and
the provision of subsidies for families with children (ILO, 1989). The
system of social security was started with the organised sector. However,
owing to pressures brought on the state and the society by the growing
awareness within the unorganised sector, concern is increasingly being
expressed and attention given to expanding legislative and social security
protection to the unorganised sector.
Social security schemes should be linked to economic security,
including employment, in-come, and assets. There should be a convergence
of the ways of reaching sustainability and of attaining expanded coverage.
The growing demands of the unorganised labour force and their attempts to
organise themselves can be met by a decentralised participatory social
security system. It will lead to a release of the people’s creative energies and
a rapid growth of social security for the organised sector. Extending social
security to the unorganised sector is not merely a matter of extending
existing organised sector schemes to new groups for the following reasons
(Getupig, et al, 1992).
1. Unorganised sector is not a homogenous category;
2. Identifying the employer in this sector is difficult;
3. Unlike the organised sector, where steady and regular employment is a
given fact, unorganised sector workers need employment security, income
security, and social security simultaneously; and
4. Needs of the unorganised sector workers vary from those of the organised
sector.
Welfare amenities stipulated in the Factories Act, Mines Act, Plantations
Labour Act, etc., are employment-based, in the sense that such Acts are
applicable to undertakings employing the minimum prescribed number of
workers. Outside the realm of these Acts, there are a large number of small-
scale establishments, which have no obligation, statutory or other-wise, to
provide welfare amenities to their workers. These establishments are located
in both urban and rural areas, and are engaged mostly in processing primary
products or in supplementing the existing large-scale industries in
transportation, construction, and retail trade. (Ghosh Subratesh, 1996). The
precise estimate of their employment strength and their wage, welfare and
working conditions are not known. The very nature of industry, the frequent
collusion between the employer and his workmen and place of work often
being in the backyard of the employers’ dwelling are some of the social
problems which stand in the way of bringing the real picture of labour
conditions to light. In the absence of any reliable data necessary for policy
recommendations, one could take stock of the situation only in terms of
opinions expressed by knowledgeable sources.
DEFINITION
1. In terms of occupation
Sickness benefit
Sickness benefit is payable when an insured person has to stop work due to
his poor health conditions, and such a stop in work usually entails reduction
or stoppage of earnings. Cash benefit is designed to replace in whole, or in
part, the lost earnings. In India, there is provision for payment of sickness
benefit under the Employees State Insurance Scheme (Government of India,
1996). Employees of Central and State governments and some public and
private sector establishments are entitled to medical leave on half-pay.
Maternity benefit
One of the earliest conventions adopted by ILO was the Maternity Protection
Convention in
1919. The purpose of this Convention was to ensure that a woman worker
would be able to sustain herself and her baby during the period immediately
before and after her confinement. Maternity benefit is usually provided
under a social insurance scheme along with medical care and sickness
benefit. In India maternity benefit is provided under the Maternity Benefit
Act (as an employers’ liability) the Employees State Insurance Act (as a part
of the health insurance scheme), the Beedi and Cigar (Conditions of
Employment) Act, Beedi and Cigar Labour Welfare Fund Act, and the
various State government schemes for social assistance. The National Social
Assistance Programme also provides for payment of maternity benefits in
lump sum.
Old-age benefit
Old age, invalidity, and survivors’ benefits are the main long-term social
security benefits, which are of great importance in any social security
scheme. ILO conventions stipulate that the pensionable age should not be
more than 65 years, unless required by demographic, economic, and social
criteria, and that there should be a lower age for persons engaged in arduous
occupations. Old age pension may be at a flat rate, or be related to one’s past
earnings. The current trend appears to be toward building a multi-tiered
system consisting of a basic minimum pension and one or more earnings-
related pensions. In India old-age benefit is provided as follows (Ministry of
Labour, 1996).
(a) Government employees: Paid by respective governments on the basis of
employers’ liability.
(b) Employees’ pension scheme:
Workers covered under the Employees Provident and Miscellaneous
Provisions Act.
(c) Destitutes and persons below the poverty line:
Paid under national old age pension scheme and old age pension schemes of
State governments.
There exist no pension schemes for the self-employed, or for workers
employed on a casual, temporary or intermittent basis who are not destitute,
and who are not covered by the Employees Provident Fund and
Miscellaneous Provisions Act.
Invalidity benefit
Invalidity benefit is meant for people who have permanently lost their
capacity to earn to the extent prescribed. According to ILO
Recommendation No.67 concerning income security, the contingency in
which invalidity benefit is payable is the inability to engage in any
substantially gainful activity, because of a chronic condition due to disease
or injury, or because of the loss of a member or its proper functioning. The
relevant ILO convention specifies 15 years of contribution or employment or
10 years of insurance. But usually one requires only a few years’ insurance,
say five years, a part of which needs to be immediately preceding the
invalidity. In India, the Employees Pension Scheme introduced in 1995
provides for invalidity benefits.
Survivors’ benefit
This benefit is meant primarily for widows and children of persons covered
by Social Security Schemes who cease to have any financial support on the
death of their breadwinner. However, national legislation often recognises
claims of other dependents provided there are no primary beneficiaries. A
widespread practice is to base the survivors’ pension on the rate of the old
age pension the deceased was receiving or would have received (Sankaran,
T.S, 1993). In India, survivors’ benefit is provided under the Employees
State Insurance Act and Workman’s Compensation Act in case of death of a
person engaged in any employment covered under these Acts. This benefit is
provided under the Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous
Provisions Act in case of the death of a member of the scheme for any
reason. Insurance schemes of the Life Insurance Corporation and General
Insurance Corporation also provide this benefit. The National Family
Benefit Scheme extends this benefit in case of the death of the breadwinner
of a family which lies below the poverty line.
Unemployment benefit
The underlying principle of unemployment benefit is that if a person,
through no fault of his, is deprived of his income, he has a right to expect
income support, at least for the necessities of life while he remains available
for work. According to ILO recommendations No.67, the contingency in
which unemployment benefit should be paid is loss of earnings due to a state
of unemployment of an insured person who is ordinarily employed, a person
who is capable of regular employment in some occupation and is searching
for suitable employment or due to part time unemployment (Government of
India, 1995-‘96). Its main purpose is to deal with temporary unemployment
of employed persons and not the extensive and prolonged unemployment
and under-employment found in many developing countries. The payment of
the benefits depends on satisfying the qualifying clause of covered
employment, and a waiting period may also be applied.
Family benefit
ILO Recommendation No.67 says that society should co-operate with
parents, and give general assistance designed to secure the wellbeing of
children. This benefit is intended to assist families in raising their children.
Although there are no family benefit schemes in India, which provide for the
payment of cash allowances to families for the maintenance of children,
there exist many schemes which help families of Scheduled Castes/Tribes,
minorities and other weaker sections of society, in the discharge of their
responsibilities for education of their children, marriage of their daughters,
construction of houses, and meeting funeral expenses.
Insurance schemes
The Life Insurance Corporation of India has developed group insurance,
which is akin to social insurance based on large numbers, and has the
potential to provide social security to persons in the unorganised industrial
and agricultural sectors. There exist now several other group insurance
schemes for the unorganised sector workers such as milk producers,
handloom weavers, rickshaw pullers, shop assistants, beedi workers, and
fish farmers. The schemes of the LIC provide mainly survivor benefits;
however, some also provide old-age pensions. The General Insurance
Corporation (GIC) of India also administers a few social security schemes
for poor families, a Hut Insurance Scheme, and a Solatium Fund. In
addition, GIC has introduced a Health Insurance Scheme, and has been
administering the comprehensive Group Insurance Scheme for the Central
Government. The schemes of the
General Insurance Corporation provide invalidity benefits, or health
insurance, or protection against loss of property.
Welfare Funds
Welfare funds represent one of the models tried in India for providing social
security protection to workers in the unorganised sector. There exist broadly
two types of welfare funds– contributory and tax-based. The Government of
India has set up tax-based welfare funds for mine workers, beedi rollers, cine
workers, and workers in the building industry; these funds are financed by
cess levied on the production or export of specified goods. They provide
mainly medical care, assistance for the education of children, housing and
water supply, and recreational facilities. There are nearly 20 Welfare Funds
constituted by Government of Kerala for the benefit of different target
groups such as agricultural workers, head-load workers, construction
workers, coir workers, cashew workers, motor transport workers,
autorickshaw workers, toddy workers, and artisans the majority of which are
contributory.
LEGISLATIVE PROTECTION
The Act Applies to all Factories and every other establishments, which
employs twenty or more workmen. The Payment of Bonus Act, 1965
provides for a minimum bonus of 8.33 percent of wages. The salary
limited fixed for eligibility purposes in Rs. 3,500 per month and the
payment is subject to the stipulation that the bonus payable to employees
drawing wages or salary between Rs2,500 and Rs. 3,500 per month
would be calculated as if their salary or wages is Rs. 2,500 per month.
Equal Remuneration Act 1979 Provides for payment of equal wages for
work of same and similar nature to male and female workers and for not
making discrimination against female employees in the matters of
transfers, training and promotion etc. Central Government is the
appropriate Govt. in respect of industries/establishments for which it is
appropriate Govt. under the Industrial Disputes Act. 1947.
CONTRACT LABOUR
The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 has been
enacted to regulate the employment of contract labour in certain
establishments and to provide for its abolition in certain circumstances
and for matters connected therewith. It applies to all establishments
employing 20 or more contract labour and to all contractors who employs
20 or more contract labors. It applies to all establishments 20 or more
contract Labour and to all contractors who employer, 20 or more
Contract Labour. The Act provides for the constitution of Central and
State Advisory Boards to advise the concerned governments on matters
arising out of the administration of the Act.
All the workers, earning less than 3000 per month and employed
in power run factories employing 20 or more persons are covered by this
scheme. However, it does not cover workers employed by seasonal
factories. An insured person under ESI Scheme is not eligible for similar
benefits under the Workmen’s Compensation Act and State Acts relating
to Maternity benefits
Apprentices Act
Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act
Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act
Dangerous Machines (Regulation) Act
Employee State Insurance Act
Employee's Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act
Employers Liability Act
Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Act
Equal Remuneration Act
Factories Act
Fatal Accidents Act
Industrial Disputes (Banking and Insurance Companies) Act
Industrial Disputes Act
Industrial Employment and Standing Orders Act
Labour Laws (Exemption from Furnishing Returns and Maintaining
Registers by Certain Establishments) Act
Maternity Benefit Act
Mines Act
Minimum Wages Act
Motor Transport Workers Act
Payment of Bonus Act
Payment of Gratuity Act
Payment of Wages Act
Plantations Labour Act
The Sales Promotion Employees (Conditions Of Service) Act
The Weekly Holidays Act
Trade Unions Act
Working Journalists (Fixation of Rates of Wages) Act
Working Journalists and Other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of
Service) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act
Workmens Compensation Act
Apprenticeship Rules
Dangerous Machines (Regulation) Rules
Employee State Insurance (Central) Rules
Employee State Insurance (General Provident Fund) Rules
Employee State Insurance (General) Regulations
Employees Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme
Employees Pension Scheme
Employees Provident Fund Scheme
Employment Exchanges Rules
Equal Remuneration Rules
Payment of Bonus Rules
Sales Promotion Employees (Conditions of Service) Act
Working Journalists (Conditions of Service) and Miscellaneous Provisions
Rules
Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Rules
Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Central Rules
Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Central Rules - Construction
and Maintenance of Creches
Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Central Rules
Minimum Wages (Central) Rules
Payment of Gratuity (Central) Rules
The Industrial Disputes (Central) Rules
Workmen's Compensation Rules
The governments has been authorized to frame rule, inter alia, for the
levy of fees payable by owners of ships at prescribed rates for the
purpose of providing amenities to seamen and for taking other measures
for their welfare.
Dock Workers(safety, health and welfare)scheme, 1961
A comprehensive Dock workers scheme, 1961, has been framed for all
major ports and is administered by the Chief Advisor, Factories(Factory
Advice Service and Labour Institutes).It is framed under the Dock
Workers (Regulation of Employment)Act, 1948.amenities provided in
the port premises includes the provision of(1)urinals and
latrines(2)drinking water(3)washing facilities(4)bathing facilities
(5)canteens(6)rest shelters(7)call stands(8)first aid arrangements
Other welfare measures provided are
(1)housing(2)schools(3)educational facilities(4)grant of
scholarships(5)sports and recreations(6)fair price shops (7)co-operative
societies.
Cost of amenities, welfare and health measures and recreation
facilities for registered workers shall be met from a separate fund called
the Dock workers welfare fund which shall be maintained by the board.
Contributions to this fund shall be made by all registered employers at
such rate as may be prescribed by the Board. The Board shall frame rules
for the contributions for the maintenance and operation of the fund.
(7) The Contract labour (Regulation and Abolition Act,1970
This Act provides that the following amenities shall be made
available by contractors for their employees:
a. Canteen, if employing 100 or more workers.
b. Rest room or other suitable alternative accommodation where contract
labour is required to halt at connection with the work of the
establishment.
c. Washing facilities.
d. First-aid box equipped with prescribed contents.
(8) Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation and Employment and
(Conditions of Service)Act, 1979
Every contractor, employing inter-state migrant workmen, shall provide:
a. Suitable condition of work.
b. Suitable residential accommodation to workers during the period of
their employment;
c. Medical facilities for workmen, free of charge;
Such protective clothing as may be prescribed;
STRUCTURE
5.Social Security-The ILO has done the pioneering work in the field
of social security. A number of Recommendations and Conventions
deal with workmen’s compensation,sickness insurance, invalidity,
old-age, and survivor’s insurance , unemployment provisions,
maternity protection and general aspects of sociall security.One of
the most important instruments adopted by the ILOis the social
security(Minimum Standards) conventions,1952.Currently , the
organisation’s main object is to extend social security to agriculture
and plantation workers.
Conclusion
The international Labour Organisation did much to improve working and
living condition of people throughout the world. It is shown itself to be an
efficiency tool in the service of social justice in all parts of the world. It has
brought about international co-operation, unity and understanding and
helped in the elimination of poverty and injustice. It has rendering
exemplary service to all the three elements composing it –government,
employers and workers. Its Conventions have been greatly appreciated by
the working class all over the world for their beneficient, humanitarian and
missionary influence. They are considered as the embodiment of social
justice by the under-privileged. Our country is greatly benefited by the ILO
standards which helped in improving the working class. It has greatly
influenced labour legislation, labour welfare, trade unionism and industrial
relations of our country. The very law making process in our country in the
field of labour has been considerably influenced by its standard-setting
process. Following ILO traditional, the principle of tripartite consultation
has been successfully adopted by the Government of India in the formulation
of labour policy on the Government of India in the formulation of labour
policy on the basis of consensus. n essence, there is a close resemblance
between the ILO Philadelphia Charter of 1944 and the Fundamental Rights
and the Directive Principles of State Policy under the Indian Constution. All
these basic document are based on the principles of freedom, individual
dignity and social justice.
Historical growth
The need for organised welfare activities for industrial labour was forcefully
brought out by the Textile Labour Enquiry Committee, in its report to the
Government of Bombay in 1937 (TLIC, 1938). As a result, a number of
labour welfare activities came to be established particularly during the
Second World War period. In 1944, the Government of India promulgated
through an ordinance the Coal Mines Labour Welfare Fund. A Scheme to set
up Labour Welfare Trust Funds formulated by the government was
discussed at the eighth meeting of the Standing Labour Committee (SLC)
held in March 1946. The Scheme was also considered at the seventh and the
ninth sessions of the Labour Ministers’ Conference, and again at the twelfth
session of SLC. A draft bill was prepared in the light of these discussions
and submitted to the Indian Labour Conference (ILC) for consideration at its
eleventh session. In 1954, the Government of India wrote directly to several
employers’ and workers’ organisations impressing upon them the need to
institute Welfare Funds. Mean-while, the States also instituted Funds for
industrial welfare .Labour Welfare Funds may be categorised into industry-
wise funds, State-level funds, and enterprise-level funds (Giri V.V, 1962).
Industry-wise funds exist in coal, mica, iron ore, gold-mining, and sugar
industries, plantations, and toddy tapping. State-level funds are framed under
the jurisdiction of State-level boundaries. Enterprise-level funds exist in
most under-takings of the Central Government, such as Post and Telegraphs,
Ordnance Factories, and Railways. Kerala has set up more than 20 Welfare
Funds for the benefit of workers. The include funds for abkari workers,
agricultural workers, autorikshaw workers, cashew workers, coir workers,
construction workers, and transport workers. A statutory fund was created
for financing welfare measures for plantation workers in Assam. Similar
funds have been set up also in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Punjab.
The Welfare Funds have been set up by special Acts of Parliament. For
example, Beedi workers are covered by the Beedi Workers Welfare Fund
Act of 1976, Mine workers by the Iron Ore, Manganese Ore And Chrome
Mines Labour Welfare Fund Act, 1976; and building workers by the
Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and
Conditions of Service) Act of 1996. In addition, separate laws have been
enacted for collecting cess. The Welfare funds set up by the Central
Government are financed by levying a cess on specified goods (Table 3.1).
Wide variations are seen in the rate structure of the cess. The duty on mica is
on an ad valorem basis, whereas the duties on other commodities are at
specific rates, ranging from Rs 0.50 to Rs 4 per metric tonne.
Table 3.1 Financing of the Central Welfare Funds
Sl.No. Name of the Act Cess Levied on Amount of cess
1. Mica mines Labour Welfare Value of exports 4.5 percent
Fund Act, 1946 of mica
2. Lime Stone and Dolomite Production of 50 paise/ metric
mines limestone, tonne
Labour Welfare Fund dolomite
Act,1773
3. Iron ore, Manganese ore and Production of Rs.1/MT
Chrome ore mines labour Iron ore Chrome Rs. 2/ MT
Welfare Cess Act,1976 ore, Manganese Rs. 4/MT
ore ,Chrome ore
4. Beedi Workers Welfare cess Manufacture of 50 paise/
Act,1976 Beedis 1000 Beedis
5. The Cine Workers Welfare Production of a.Hindi films
Cess Act, 1981 feature films Rs.10,000/Film
b.South Indian
Rs 5000/ Film
c.Marathi&
Bangali
Rs 3000/ Film
d.Other Films
Rs2000/ Film
6. The Building and other Cost of 2 Percent
Construction Workers Construction
Welfare Cess Act
The above Acts provide that the Fund may be applied by the
Central Government to meet the expenditure incurred in connection with
measures and facilities which are necessary to provide the welfare of such
workers. In order to give effect to the above objectives laid down in the
above Acts, various welfare schemes have been formulated and are under
operation in the fields of:
1. Health
2. Social Security
3. Education
4. Housing
5. Recreation
6. Water Supply
The Labour Welfare Organization which administers these Funds is
headed by a Director General (Labour Welfare)/Joint Secretary. He is
assisted by the Welfare Commissioner (Headquarters) of Director Rank,
who supervises nine Regional Welfare Commissioners for the purpose of
administration of these Funds in the States
Labour relations in the unorganised sector are chaotic. For the vast
majority of the workers, formal employee-employer relationship does not
exist; even in cases in which it exists, it is of a casual nature. Infighting
among workers for job opportunities is common. Anarchical tendencies
worsen relations between workers and small-time employers. Institutions to
give training and specialisation in different trades and vocations have not
come into existence.
Skilled jobs in many sectors continue to be a male prerogative;
unskilled and semi-skilled jobs involving hard physical labour and
environmental hazards often get reserved for women workers.
• HISTORICAL PROSPECTIVE :
The CIRM administers the Labour Laws in the industries for which The
Central Govt. is the `appropriate Government' under that Act, Its functions
therefore are:
Asstt. Labour Commissioners have been declared inspectors under all the
enactments enumerated in column (4),above, except Equal remuneration Act
and Payment of Gratuity Act. They are conciliation officers under the
I.D.Act (Section 4). They intervene and prevent the industrial disputes and
maintain harmonious Industrial Relations. A.L.Cs(C) are also controlling
authorities under the payment of Gratuity Act (sec.3), Authorities under the
Equal remuneration Act (Sections 7) and Registering and Licensing Officers
(Sections 6 and 11 respectively) under the Contract Labour (Regulation &
Abolition)Act.
The ALCs as Conciliation Officers intervene into the industrial disputes and
maintain harmonious Industrial Relations.
As controlling authorities under the payment of Gratuity Act (sec. 3), and
Authorities under the Equal remuneration Act (Sections 7), they
decide the claim cases filed before them under these acts. As Registering and
Licensing Officers under the Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act,
they grant licenses to the contractors and Registration certificate to the
Principal Employers.
They are also Registering and Licensing officer under I.S(M.W) Act,
Registering officer under the Building & other construction workers
(RE&CS)Act inspectors under other enactment's. In addition ALCs(C) have
to do verification of Trade Union Membership in the establishment wherever
required (in respect of industries, which have accepted code of discipline,
statutory verification in Banks and ad-hoc verification in major ports). The
Ministry and Hqrs also ask them. office of the CLC(C) to conduct
inquiries/investigations into complaints/representations references received
from VIPs/Unions/individual workers etc.
As the head of the organisation of the CLC(C) has an over all control over
the functioning of the organisation. The CLC(C) has been declared an
inspector under some establishments such as M.W. Act etc., he has also been
given certain special powers under enactment like CL(R&A) Act, IE9SO)
Act etc.