Unorganised sector Bill hived off into two Bills

New Delhi, Feb 23 (UNI) After much opposition from trade unions, the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS) today proposed two Bills instead of a single Bill-- one for agricultural workers and the other for non-agricultural workers.

The Commission, an advisory body headed by Dr Arjun Sengupta, had earlier proposed a draft Bill-- Unorganised Sector Workers (Conditions of Work and Livelihood Promotion) Bill, 2005-- for comments and feedback.

Based on the comments from states, trade unions and other stakeholders, the Commission has revised the earlier proposal and now proposed two Bills-- Unorganised Non-agricultural Sector Workers (Conditions of Work and Livelihood Promotion Bill, 2007) and the Unorganised Agricultural Sector Workers (Conditions of Work and Livelihood Promotion Bill, 2007), the NCEUS said.

The draft Bills provide for basic and minimum conditions of work for all unorganised wage workers and home workers, including prohibition of night work for adolescents.

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 local bodies in the conciliation and dispute resolution committees.

The Commission has proposed the creation of National Boards for promotion of livelihood of unorganised workers in the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors, respectively, which will monitor and review the existing schemes, advise the government on the promotion of gainful employment opportunities and promotion of livelihood options at the national level.

Simlarly at the state level, there will be State Boards for promotion of livelihood of workers.

To implement the programmes recommended by the Boards, the Commission has suggested the constitution of a National Fund for Unorganised Workers (Agricultural and Non agricultural).

It has proposed a national minimum wage for employments not notified under the Minimum Wages Act with stipulation that the state government concerned will amend the prescribed minimum wage to bring it in conformity with the national minimum wage.

It has also prescribed that no deductions will be made from wages, advances or payments to be made to wage workers, seasonal migrants or home workers, except in accordance with law.

It has recommended that all unorganised workers will be entitled to compensation in the event of work-related injury.

Representative organisations have the right to collective bargaining and representation in various fora.

The Bill for non-agricultural workers include provisions entitling a worker to a wage slip providing details of remuneration recieved. Further, a wage worker, except a daily wage or casual worker, will be entitled to receive a letter of employment from his employer, stating the terms of employment.

It also calls for social protection of migrants and area development for livelihood needs of street vendors and slum dwellers.

Provision for settlement of disputes through conciliation committees at sub-district level, and dispute resolution council at the district level are to be created.

UNI