The Union Labour Ministry has received the last comments from the Law Ministry on the recommendations of Justice Majithia Wage Board for journalists and non-journalists on Thursday, paving the way for passage of the proposal to the Cabinet for the final approval.
“I received replies and comments on the proposals from several departments and ministries. Only the Law Ministry had to send its comments, which I received just yesterday (Thursday) evening. I will now be sending the recommendations to the cabinet within a week,” Mr Mallikarjuna Kharge, the Union Labour Minister, told newspersons on the sidelines of a function here on Friday.
Mr Justice Majithia had submitted his report on the wage board for journalists and non-journalists in December 2010.
Replying to a question on increasing PF interest rates, the Minister said the Provident Fund Trustees will be meeting next month to discuss, among other things, interest rates, investment plans and appointment of fund managers. He did not give a time frame as to when the PF interest rates, which were hiked to 9.5 per cent in September last, would be revised again.
Mr Kharge said all State governments should implement the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana, a health insurance scheme for poor.
“At present 22 States are implementing the scheme. In the south, only Kerala and Tamil Nadu Governments are doing this. The Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh Governments have promised me that they will be implementing the scheme from this year,” he said.
Under the scheme, BPL families get Rs 30,000 each annually for medical treatment, with the Centre's share being 75 per cent and the rest by State governments.
The Minister said a few days ago he had approved a proposal to almost double the honorarium paid to staff such as project directors and field officers working for the National Child Labour Project (NCLP), which he hoped will give a boost to this programme.
Earlier, he laid the foundation stone for Employee State Insurance Corporation's dental college here, in the presence of the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy, and other State Ministers.