The Modi government will soon be launching its first revolutionary labour reform by partly doing away the factory inspector raj, which is widely considered to be corrupt and arbitrary in nature. As per the new norms which will be introduced by the way of the reform, following changes will be brought:
The inspectors will no longer be able to choose themselves as to which unit to visit.
Earlier the employees were required to file 16 forms for complying with the laws, which will now be reduced to 1.
Apart from removing the inspector raj, other steps will also be taken in the benefit of the workers. One such change would be that the employees will now be able to easily access their insurance arrangements and PF (provident fund) accounts. The Labour Ministry has made a concept note in this regard.
The Prime Minister might launch a new programme named ‘Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay Shrameva Jayate Karyakram.’
Shram Suvidha:
Under the aforementioned programme, a ‘Shram Suvidha’ portalwill be set up by the Labour Ministry. And the ‘Labour Inspection Scheme’ will also be put in place to bring transparency in online filling of returns that pertain to agreeing to various labour laws. The workers will then be able to more easily access welfare schemes.
An important reform is that the EPF accounts will now be able to link with the bank accounts of workers.
The inaugural programme includes sending of text messages by the PM to more than 1500 labour inspectors belonging to Directorate General of Mines Safety, Chief Labour Commissioner, Employees’ State Insurance Corporation and Employees’ Provident Fund – the four chief organisations that will be covered under the scheme.
16 out of 44 labour laws in the private companies and government are managed by these 4 organisations, all over the country.
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Second phase of the programme:
The government in the second phase aims at bringing in the rest of the labour laws and the State governments to be available on the portal, so that the scheme can cover all the units of the scheme.
Labour Identification Number:
A Labour Identification Number or LIN will be given to the industries and factories so as to enable online enrolment. As mentioned before, the units will be required to file just 1 return instead of filing 16, and this one return will be self-certified, consolidated and non-complex online return.
Instead of choosing their won units, the inspectors will be provided a random computer-generated list of units, a day before the visit.
The necessity for reviewing a factory due to a specific complaint will need evidence and well-examined and centrally reached upon decisions.
In order to make sure that the complaints of employers are timely taken into due account, the inspectors will be required to upload the reports within 72 hours of carrying out the visit.
The target of this initiative is to gradually achieving a website, which will be one-stop destination to find complete database of employees, industrial units and employers
The ministry has already gathered data about the 11 lakh units that fall under the 4 chief organisations mentioned above, which also be handling the portal collaboratively. The information has been de-duplicated and digitised, and the total number has reduced to 6-7 lakh. The units will be offered LIN on Thursday.
Hereafter, only significant matters will be brought in the mandatory inspection list. Though a random unit will be generated by the computer, there will still be arrangements for emergency inspections in specific situations.
The EPF account of employees might also be linked Universal Account Number (UAN). The UAN is being attached to KYC, Aadhaar card and bank account details to bring about financial inclusion
By Thursday, around 2 crore users will have the advantage of portability through UAN. The users will be get instant update on emails and mobiles once the inauguration takes place.
Minimum Pension:
Apart from everything else that makes these reforms to special is the fact that for the first time, a minimum pension will be introduced so that the available pension is at least Rs 1,000 per month. The wage cap has been increased to Rs. 15,000 from Rs. 6,500 per month, so that the vulnerable sections can be included in the EPF scheme.
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About Tushita
Tushita is a political writer at thenational.net. Her deep rooted interest in politics, passion for writing and craze for travelling define her. Writing since her school days, she aspires to write lifelong and make the world a happier place to live with the power of her pen.
