Employers owe ESI Corporation Rs 1,015 core

New Delhi, Mar 6: Employers continue to default on remittances of their contribution to the Employees State Insurance (ESI) Corporation with the total outstanding dues reaching a whopping Rs 1,015.15 crore, the government today said.

According to the figures presented by Labour Minister K Chandra Shekhar Rao in the Lok Sabha, the dues have been mounting since 2000-01.

The defaulting employers owed the ESI Corporation Rs 92.50 crore in 2000-01, Rs 79.18 crore in 2001-02, Rs 105.05 crore in 2002-03 and Rs 122.75 crore in 2003-04. The amount due in 2004-05 was Rs 220.02 crore.

The Corporation collected Rs 1,255.44 crore in 2000-01, Rs 1,249.91 crore in 2001-02, Rs 1,302.38 crore in 2002-03, Rs 1,380.71 crore in 2003-04 and Rs 1,689.08 crore in 2004.05.

The Corporation recovered Rs 72.59 crore in 2000-01, Rs 88.03 crore in 2001-02, Rs 131.50 crore in 2002-03, Rs 176.10 crore in 2003-04 and Rs 111.59 crore in 2004-06 up to January.

NO MOVE TO AMEND MINIMUM WAGES ACT: The government has no plans to introduce a comprehensive legislation to amend the Minimum Wages Act 1948, Minister of State for Labour and Employment Chandra Sekhar Sahu said.

UNCLAIMED DEPOSITS WITH EPFO: An amount of Rs 877.76 crore was lying unclaimed with the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), said Mr Rao.

NO DOMESTIC WORKERS BILL IN THE OFFING: There is no proposal for a Domestic Workers Bill at present, Mr Sahu said. Only Karnataka has notified minimum wages and hours of work for domestic workers, he said.

UNI