Measures for unorganised workers taken: Oscar

"A new Bill, Unorganised Sector Workers Social Security Bill, 2007 was introduced in the Parliament. Simultaneously, a Health Insurance Scheme for the poor titled Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) has become operational," said Fernandes while greeting the workers on the occasion of 'May Day'.

The government will reimburse the employers contribution to the Employees 'Provident Fund and Employees' State Insurance Corporation for the first three years for the disabled employees, the Minister said.

To eliminate child labour in hazardous areas, the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme has been extended to cover 250 districts. About 3.94 lakh children from special schools of NCLPs have been mainstreamed into the formal education system, he added.

Fernandes said, "Action has been initiated for the upgradation of ITIs as Centres of Excellence. Under Skill Development Initiatives (SDI) Scheme, short-term training courses based on Modular Employable Skills (MES) framework for skill development for the school drop-outs and existing workers especially in the informal sector have been developed."