Union labour minister Satyanarayan Jatia will endorse the draft convention on child and contract labours of the International Labour Organisation at a time when the budgetary allocation on child labour has been slashed and public sector undertakings have joined a campaign for the continuation of contract labour.
Jatia is expected to speak at the ILO annual meet tomorrow, in which he will support the draft convention on child and contract labours. But the Indian delegation led by Jatia plans to suggest amendments to another convention on the issue of human rights at workplaces.
The plan allocation for child and women labour has been pegged at Rs 50.20 crore, down from the budgetary estimate of Rs 78.63 crore in 1997-98. This is because the labour ministry was not able to spend the funds allotted last year and the revised estimate on this score came down to Rs 35.93 crore.
The overall plan allocation of the labour ministry has come down marginally from Rs 178 crore in the budgetary estimates of 1997-98 to Rs 176.64 crore. The reduction is larger if seen in the context of erosion due to inflation. The main reason for the reduction is the ministry's inability to utilise a part of the funds last year when it used Rs 120 crore, as shown in the revised estimates.
Labour ministry sources, however, point out that the funds allotted for child labour rehabilitation could not be fully utilised because the finance ministry had raised objections on the scheme and sought revisions in it last year.
Whatever the real reasons for tardy efforts on the child labour front, the fact remains that it has weakened the stand taken by the government on the child labour issue at the ILO and other international fora. The government has been arguing that the international community should focus on rehabilitation of child labour instead of banning it altogether in one go.
On the other hand, government-run companies like Steel Authority of India and National Thermal Power Corporation have been lobbying earnestly with the government to seek a review of the recent Supreme Court judgement on regularising contract labour. The apex court has held that public sector organisations should be in the forefront of implementing the objectives of the Contract Labour ( abolution and regulation ) act.
But PSUs have joined the private sector and industry bodies like Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry to suggest that their their finances will be severely crippled if they are forced to take on thousands of contract labourers on the pay rolls.
