Empowering MSMEs with News & Insights

National Policy for domestic workers needs to be brought in to recognize labour rights: SBI report

Updated: Jun 22, 2019 08:58:44am
image

National Policy for domestic workers needs to be brought in to recognize labour rights: SBI report

New Delhi, June 22 (KNN) National Policy for Domestic Workers needs to be brought in at the earliest to recognize labour rights and promote better working conditions, said State Bank of India (SBI) report entitled “Ecowrap” to study the path to labour reforms in India.

The report suggested that the initiatives taken till date are “miniscule” and thereby disregarding the apparent efforts made by multiple governments over the years.

The Centre and state governments need to pursue labour law reforms as these are necessary for improving investment and generating employment, it said.

The report said “In an economy like India, having a large work force, it is important to improve employment and employability. While labour welfare is one of the utmost priority, the aspects of productivity and efficiency have also to be looked at.”

While the existing labour laws havecriticized, a list of already-proposed laws (in 2014) has been mentioned to bring clarity to the situation and also the continued negligence of the government, it added.

As per the recommendations of the 2nd National Commission on labour, Ministry has taken steps for codification of existing Central labour laws into 4 Codes by simplifying, amalgamating and rationalizing the relevant provisions of the Central Labour laws. These codes are: (1) Labour Code on Wages (2) Labour Code on Industrial Relations (3) Labour Code on Social Security & Welfare & (4) Labour Code on Occupational Safety, Health & Working Conditions.

Of the four codes, the one on wages has been introduced in the Lok Sabha and is under examination. The other three codes are at the pre-legislative consultation stage and should be completed urgently.

It should be ensured that hiring and firing should always lie within the laid down SOPs and should not be exercised outside the ambit. The companies should also maintain reasonable pay parity between the superior and subordinates. A Government driven mechanism should be devised to ensure that the workers of the unorganized sector are not deprived of the basic wages and benefits.

Making a case for labour law reforms, the report said the investors look out for stability and sustainability. Land and labour resources are critical for them to firm up their investment plans, it added.

According to the latest comparable figures available with the International Labour Organization, the man-days lost in India were staggering 23.34 lakh as compared with 1.7 lakh in the UK and 7.4 lakh in the US with Russia at a low of only 10,000, added report. (KNN/K)

COMMENTS

    Be first to give your comments.

LEAVE A REPLY

Required fields are marked *