Govt mulling universal social security cover for workers: PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the government was at an advance stage of considering a universal social security cover for workers while acknowledging that there could be "no disagreement" on issues raised by trade unions during the February general strike.
Noting that the coverage would extend to workers in both the organised and unorganised sectors, he said the government was also considering creation of a national social security fund, fixing a national floor-level minimum wage and a minimum pension of Rs 1000 per month under Employees' Pension Scheme.
"The recent two-day strike by trade unions focused on a number of issues relating to the welfare not only of the working classes but also the people at large. These include demands on which there can be no disagreement," he said inaugurating the 45th Indian Labour Conference here.

The government, he said, supported demands which include concrete measures for containing inflation and employment generation opportunities as they are "unexceptionable". They also include strict implementation of labour laws.
"There can however be differences on the best ways of fulfilling these demands and we are willing to engage constructively with the trade unions in this regard," he said.
The trade unions had gone on a two-day general strike in February this year pressing for implementation of their 10-point charter of demands.

A Group of Ministers was set up thereafter under the Finance Minister to look into them and resolve issues which require further dialogue. While the GoM meets on May 22, the Prime Minister expressed confidence that "soon we will see some forward movement" out of the deliberations.

He said the Cabinet has already approved amendments to the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 to provide for a statutory National Floor-Level Minimum Wage.
His support for some of the issues of the workers' bodies came as he conceded that many of the demands reflect the concern that growth and progress should be inclusive and should particularly benefit the under-privileged sections of the society.
"This is a concern that has been very dear to our government. We believe that providing our people with productive employment opportunities is the best way of achieving this objective," he said.