Integrated policy for unorganised sector workers demanded

Mangalore, Apr 10 (UNI) CITU Vice-President V J K Nair today demanded that the Union Government announce an integrated policy for the workers of the unorganised sector, including agricultural labourers and beedi workers, to protect the interests of labourers in the sector.

Addressing news persons here, he said such integrated policy would enable the labourers in the unorganised sector to get identification cards and other facilities such as pension, maternity allowance and housing.

The Government should take steps for the effective implementation of labour laws in the country without any discrimination or loophole, he added.

Mr Nair stressed that there was a need to generalise the National Employment Guarantee scheme so that it was applicable to all sectors.

He lamented that though the Government had set up an advisory committee for three years on State contract labourers in 2005, not a single meeting had been held by the Committee. The Government should take all required steps in this regard.

The CITU would organise a protest meet from April 18 against the Union Government's ''anti-labour and anti-farmer'' policies at the district level throughout the country. The state unit of the CITU would hold a two-day workshop in Bangalore from May 2.

Earlier inaugurating a meeting of beedi workers of Dakshina Kannada district here, he demanded that the Government bring in an uniform minimum wages act for the workers of the beedi industry as there was total disparity in the minimum wages of labourers. The beedi workers were also deprived of several other facilities like scholarships to their children and housing facility.

UNI