Commission on unorganised sector recommends penal interest on delayed wages

The National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS) in a report submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has recommended penal interest on delayed payment of wages to unorganised workers.

New Delhi, July 9 : The National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS) in a report submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has recommended penal interest on delayed payment of wages to unorganised workers.

In a first, the NCEUS has released a report on "Comprehensive Legislation for Protection of Unorganised Workers" covering unorganised workers in both agricultural and non-agricultural sectors.

NCEUS under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises has presented draft Bills on work conditions and social security for unorganised workers to the Prime Minister.

The Chairman of the Commission Dr. Arjun Sengupta presented the Bills along with an explanatory report.

The report is a curtain raiser to the comprehensive landmark report on the country's working poor, which will be presented to the Prime Minister and publicly released before the end of this month.

The key recommendations on minimum work conditions for all unorganised workers, include an eight-hour working day with at least half-hour break, one paid day of rest, a statutory national minimum wage for all wage workers and home workers and penal interest on delayed payment of wages.

Other recommendations are: No deduction of wages in the form of fines, right to organise, non-discrimination on the basis of sex, caste and religion, incidences of HIV/AIDS and place of origin, adequate safety equipment at the workplace and compensation for accidents, protection from sexual harassment, provision of childcare; and provision of basic amenities at the work place.

On minimum social security for all unorganised workers, the Bills mandate the Central Government to formulate and notify a National Security Scheme for the agricultural and non-agricultural workers.

The total outlay of the scheme proposed to cover all agricultural workers and non-agricultural workers is estimated at Rs. 19,400 crores and Rs. 12,950 crores respectively.

Health benefits including hospitalisation benefit for the worker and his or her family to the tune of Rs. 15,000 per year, sickness allowance for 15 days beyond three days of hospitalization at the rate of Rs. 50 per day and Maternity benefit to the extent of Rs. 1,000 to the worker or spouse of worker.

Life and disability cover for all unorganised workers to include life and disability insurance to the tune of Rs. 30,000 in case of natural death; Rs. 75,000 in case of accidental death or total permanent disability and Rs. 37,500 in case of partial permanent disability.

The report recommends old age security in the form of pension of Rs. 200 per month to all below poverty line (BPL) workers above the age of 60 years; and Provident Fund for other workers. "The unorganised sector employs as much as 86 per cent of the total workforce in the Indian Economy. The Commission's landmark legislative recommendations have a potential to improve the quality of life of more than 340 million of the most marginalised and vulnerable working poor of India," said Sengupta.

The scheme is to be implemented within a period of five years.

The State Social Security and Welfare Board will be responsible for the implementation of the scheme with the assistance of the Workers' Facilitation Centre at the grass root level and supervised by the National Social Security and Welfare Board.

ANI