Labour reforms for the unorganised sector a priority: Minister

Our Bureau Updated - December 27, 2014 at 08:51 PM.

‘Pathetic’situation of the tea garden workers in West Bengal, Assam a major concern

Bandaru Dattatreya, Union Minister of State, Labour & Employment addresses at the Sixth World Confluence of Humanity, Power and Spirituality in Kolkata. Photo: Ashoke Chakrabarty

Labour reforms for the unorganised sector is a priority for the Narendra Modi government. And steps are being accordingly taken in this regard by the Centre, the Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Bandaru Dattatreya, said here.

According to him, some of the steps taken include the setting up of the Shram Suvidha Portal (SSP) where a unique labour identity number will be provided to workers (in the unorganised sector) of various establishments.

Dattatreya was in the city to attend the Srei organised event, World Confluence of Humanity, Power and Spirituality.

“My focus area will be the unorganised sector. We have taken a new initiative, the Shram Suvidha Portal (SSP), that will help provide labour identity number (LIN) to the establishments”, he said.

So far, labour identity numbers have been provided by the Centre to 7.5 lakh institutions. The numbers will go up soon.

According to Dattatreya, steps are being taken to further decentralise labour services with the Central government allotting a Universal Account Number (UAN).

The UAN is a portable number which gives the members greater control over their money and links EPF and ESI services.

Meeting

The Union Minister claimed that he has already invited his State counterpart, Moloy Ghatak, to Delhi to discuss various matters including labour unrest.

He maintained that one of the major areas of concern for his department was the “pathetic” situation of the plantation (tea gardens) workers in West Bengal and Assam.

The Labour, along with the Commerce Ministry was looking at various schemes to help uplift the workers conditions, the Union Minister pointed out.

Published on December 27, 2014 15:18