State Ministers Skip Meet On Labour Bill
State labour ministers failed to turn up at a meeting called by Prime Minister I K Gujral yesterday to finalise the controversial labour bill. The meeting was, however, attended by Union labour minister M Arunachalam and labour secretary L Mishra.
The presence of state labour ministers was crucial for the meeting, as implementation of the bill is a responsibility of the states. A draft bill was circulated among the states for their comments a fortnight ago. The bill proposes to seek an annual contribution from farmers that would go into a welfare fund set up for agriculture labourers.
Under the bill, which is due to be placed before Parliament, farmers owning at least one hectare will be required to contribute Rs 100 to Rs 1,000 every year to the welfare fund. The money thus collected will be pooled together and a district welfare fund will be set up for farm labourers.
The measure is expected to benefit over 100 million agriculture labourers in the country.
Under the proposed bill, farmers owning less than one hectare will be exempted from paying the cess.
A minimum cess of about Rs 100 per year will be levied on farmers owning between one and two hectares, Rs 200 on those owning three to four hectares, Rs 500 on those with five to 10 hectares and Rs 1,000 will be collected from farmers having more than 10 hectares.
The cess will cover owners of irrigated as well as non-irrigated land. However, the states will be free to implement the norms based on the topography and weather conditions.
The district welfare fund will be used for the purpose of giving maternity benefits to women labourers, guaranteeing security of wages and ensuring safe drinking water for the labourers.
Among the other features of the bill are issue of identity cards to the unorganised farm labourers, setting up of a dispute settlement machinery to adjudicate disputes, and fixing minimum wages for the labourers that will be later linked to the consumer price index.
A comprehensive legislation to improve the working conditions of agriculture labourers has been under consideration for 10 years. A draft bill finally took shape during a meeting of state labour ministers and labour secretaries with the Union labour minister in May 1995.