MPs call for legislation for unorganised labour

New Delhi, Apr 26 (UNI) Members in the Lok Sabha, cutting across party lines, today drew attention of the House to the pitiable condition of the unorganised labour in various sectors in the country and called for measures to improve their lot.

Initiating discussion on the Demands for Grants under the control of the Ministry of Labour, Mr Rasa Singh Rawat (BJP) said the condition of the labourers in the country was getting from bad to worse and they were driven to the point of starvation. He wanted to know as to what happened to the promises made in the Common Minimum Programme and in the UPA Manifesto for bettering the lot of the unorganised labour and said there was a wide gap between the promise and action.

He said the farm labourers were being exploited and not getting their wages in time. There was no healthy environment for them to live in and education of their children was being ignored. The workers in the Bidi industry were being underpaid. The workers in the construction sector, most of them coming from rural areas, were being made to live in unhygenic conditions with no medical facilities. Mr Rawat also demanded putting an end to child labour in the country and improvement in the facilities to women workers.

Mr Lal Singh (Cong) drew attention of the House to the plight of unorganised labour at the Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir and demanded measures to check their exploitation. He opposed the 14000 careers of tourists like "pitthu, Palki and horse pullers being charged 12 per cent tax on the income and wanted it to be immeddiately stopped. He also called for proper food and medical facilities for them.

Mr S Chatterjee (CPI-M) said there was no security of work for the unorganised labour and asked the UPA Govenment to fulfil is commitment made to the people. He called for a legislation to be enacted by Parliament to improve their lot.

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