INDIA BUSINESS WORLD - FEBRUARY 2007
The Month that was ...

CENTRE READIES TWO BILLS TO REGULATE UNORGANISED WORKERS

THE government has proposed two new Bills, the Unorganised Non-Agricultural Sector Workers (Conditions Of Work & Livelihood Promotion) Bill, 2007, and the Unorganised Agricultural Sector Workers (Conditions Of Work & Livelihood Promotion) Act, 2007, to regulate work of unorganised agricultural workers and non-agricultural workers respectively.

Drafted by the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS), the Bills have made specific recommendations stipulating maximum hours of work, overtime rates, days of paid rest following continuous weekly employment and prohibition of night work for adolescents for all agricultural and non-agricultural unorganised wage workers.

The Bills also call for the constitution of a national fund for unorganised workers (agricultural and nonagricultural) by the central government, that will be utilised only for the programmes and projects recommended by the National Board for Promotion of Livelihood of Unorganised Workers (Agricultural) and National Board for Promotion of Livelihood of Unorganised Workers (Non-Agricultural).

Among other things, the Bills propose setting up of a national minimum wage for employment not notified under the Minimum Wages Act. The Bills stipulate that the concerned state government amend the prescribed minimum wage to bring it in conformity with the national minimum wage.

The Bills mandate the government to take the necessary steps to protect and promote the livelihood of workers from the unorganised sector through appropriate policies and programmes. The Bills provide for an institutional machinery to take a holistic view of the sector and mobilise the necessary resources to help overcome constraints.

The commission has also proposed that all unorganised workers be entitled to compensation in the event of work-related injury.

The Bills provide for basic and minimum conditions of work for all unorganised wage workers and home workers. Instead of relying on bureaucratic implementation and costly and time-consuming legal redressal procedures, the commission has accorded priority to conciliation and has proposed the participation of workers' representatives and elected representatives of the local bodies in the conciliation and dispute-resolution committees.