Smart card for unorganised workers under consideration

New Delhi, May 24 (UNI) With a view to reaching out to the millions of unorganised sections of labour, the Government today said it would start issuing smart cards for extending welfare and insurance benefits to workers in case of death and disability.

Talking to newspersons after the Union Cabinet gave approval for the Unorganised Sector Workers Social Security Bill, Union Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes said the Bill would be brought before Parliament in the next session for approval. Now, the Government would set up a Board to come out with schemes to the government for the self-employed category of the workforce like drivers of auto-rickshaws and taxies and roadside service providers in a phased manner, he added.

He said, ''The Finance Minister has provided Rs 1000 crore for the purpose and we have to have an infrastructure to collect a premium of Re one from each worker and enroll him into the welfare system and extend him insurance benefits and health facilities without involving subsidies. States like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Rajasthan already have a schemes working in their states and this would supplement their efforts.'' ''Our intention is to reach welfare to the unreached sections,'' he said. Once they were issued the cards, the beneficiary, even if he is a migrant, will be able to use the facilties in some other place by using his card in any place of the country. For achieving this, work by other ministries and the state government cooperation was necessary, he said.

He said the Government had started issuance of bio-metric smart cards for the Employee Provident Fund subscribers to obviate delays in payments when workers retired. The scheme had taken off in five places and would be extended throughout the country.

''Once you have this card, one can be sure that the money is paid to a genuine person and there is no hanky-panky involved.'' MORE UNI