States should utilise labour cess for workers' welfare: Tomar

Expressing concerns over unspent Rs 12,000 crore collected as labour cess from developers, Labour Minister Narendra Singh Tomar today asked state governments to utilise this fund for labour welfare.
In a bid to expedite the utilisation of this huge corpus, he said the Centre will issue guidelines recommending the area where this fund can be used.
Addressing realtors' industry body NAREDCO's conference, Tomar said: "About Rs 11,000-12,000 crore of labour cess is lying unutilised with the states."
Stating that some of the states like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Rajasthan have worked for the benefit of labour by utilising this fund, he said other states have not used this fund properly as desired.

Tomar further said that the government would discuss this issue during Construction Worker Council meeting to be held shortly.
NAREDCO president Sunil Mantri demanded that developers should be allowed to utilise this fund in CSR activity for labour welfare on construction sites itself.

The state governments collect one per cent of construction works as labour cess, he added.
Tomar also hoped that the Apprentices (Amendment) Bill, 2014, which was passed by the Lok Sabha last month, is expected to be passed in the Upper House during the next session of Parliament.
Justifying the need for an amendment, the minister said the existing law was not being properly implemented and employers were "exploited".

Tomar noted that there was a sort of "Inspector-Raj" and the amendments have been proposed to a put an end to it.
On August 14, the Lok Sabha passed a bill which provides for apprenticeship training to non-engineering graduates and diploma holders besides others to expand the base of skilled workers in the country.
Tomar also announced that the workers in the organised sector, particularly in construction industry, will soon be provided portable universal PF (provident fund) account number which would be accessible for viewing online.
The minister said that all the UANs (universal account numbers) are expected to be operational by October 15.

Citing an example, he said if a worker comes from Kerala to Madhya Pradesh for work, his universal PF account would be credited and there would be no need for transfer of PF accounts after change of jobs.
Tomar also elaborated on the centrally-controlled new inspection scheme under the EPFO. He said the inspectors would be informed a day in advance about the firms to be inspected and inspectors would be required to submit the report within 72 hours, failing which action will be taken.