7th November, 2002
Ministry of Labour & Empowerment  


PENSION SYSTEM FOR UNORGANISED WORKERS BEING FIRMED UP, SAYS K.C. PANT

CENTRE CONTEMPLATING SOCIAL SECURITY CARD AND NUMBER FOR ALL WORKERS, SAYS LABOUR MINISTER


A pension system for the unorganised workers is being firmed up following announcement made in the union budget for 2001-02. This was disclosed by the Dy. Chairman of the Planning Commission, Shri K.C. Pant while inaugurating a National Seminar on Unorganised labour here today. He said that it would be useful to frame a perspective plan for social security coverage of all workers in the country in a time frame of 15 to 20 years. He said that the perspective plan should clearly identify the role of employers, workers and their organisations, the Central and State Governments. Shri Pant said that bringing reforms to the agriculture sector is a core element of the 10th Plan. Advocating review of rules, regulations and procedures, the Dy. Chairman called for expeditious removal of barriers that stifle the entrepreneurial urges of the workers in the unorganised sector. He said " proper kinds of public investment and policy reforms would be able to unleash tremendous entrepreneurial energy in the rural sector, which would create opportunities not only for our farmers, but also in non-farm rural activities." There can be no better method than this of providing sustainable social protection, he added. Recognising the critical role of the unorganised sector in the economy, Shri Pant said that considerable emphasis has been laid in the Plan on vocationalisation of education and inculcating the dignity of labour within the educational process. Referring to contractualisation of jobs, the Dy. Chairman said that there should be a system in place or employers or contractors must mandatorily agree to provide welfare and social security cover to the contract labour.

Presiding over the function the Labour Minister Dr. Sahib Singh said that policy choices regarding unorganised sector have to be designed within the frame work of ‘growth with a human face’. He said that an Umbrella Legislation for welfare of workers in the unorganised sector would be introduced in the Parliament during the budget session. Dr. Sahib said that it would be the Labour Ministry’s effort to get it passed during the budget session itself. The Labour Minister said that the first step in extending the reach of social security measures to workers in the informal sector is the identification of beneficiaries. He said that the government is contemplating the introduction of the social security number and social security cards to all workers in the unorganised sector. He said that there is a need for rationalisation of labour laws and called for operation of all social partners in this regard. He said that there is also a need to integrate various existing welfare schemes for workers. He urged the trade unions to extend their activities to unorganised workers.

The Minister of State for Labour Shri Ashok Pradhan said that employment trends indicate that the importance and magnitude of the unorgnised sector is going to increase in coming years. He said that it is all the more important to devise social security and measures for this sector on priority.

The two days seminar is being attended by the Labour Ministers of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka, Labour Secretary Dr. P.D. Shenoy, Representatives of State Governments, Employers, Trade Unions and NGOs working for the welfare of the unorganised workers. The seminar, organised jointly by the Directorate General Labour Welfare and V.V. Giri National Labour Institute, will focus on Umbrella Legislation for unorganised workers, social security and skill-upgradation.