MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
(SHRI SANTOSH KUMAR GANGWAR)
(a) & (b): The Office of Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) monitors the enforcement of Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979 in the Central Sphere through regular inspections. In the State Sphere this is monitored by the State Government machinery.
The Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979 provides for registration of establishments engaging the Inter-State Migrant workers. No register for migrant workers is maintained at the Central level.
(c) & (d): The Central Government has not conducted any study in regard to living standard, health and safety of migrant workers.
Contd..2/-
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In order to safeguard the interest of the Migrant workers the Central Government has enacted the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Services) Act, 1979 which, inter alia, provides for payment of minimum wages, journey allowance, displacement allowance, residential accommodation, medical facilities and protective clothing etc. The provisions of various labour laws like the Employees’ Compensation Act, 1923, The Payment of Wages Act, 1936, The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, The Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948, The Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 and the Maternity Benefit Act are also applicable on migrant workers working in certain establishments. The Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008 has also been enacted to provide for social security and welfare of unorganized workers including migrant workers.
(e): The problems of migration/migrant workers is sought to be addressed through a multi dimensional course of action through rural development, provision of improved infrastructural facilities, equitable dispersal of resources to remove regional disparities, employment generation, land reforms, increased literacy, financial assistance etc. To prevent migration of the work force and contain them near their native places, the Government has enacted Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 which aims at enhancing the livelihood security of people in rural areas by guaranteeing hundred days of wage-employment in a financial year to a rural household, whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. With an objective to generate self-employment opportunities in rural as well as urban areas, as well as enhancing the Skills of Migrant Workers the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) is implementing various skill development schemes. The objective of these schemes is to enable a large number of Indian Youth to take up industry-relevant skill training that will help them in securing a better livelihood. Further, under the Deen Dayal Antoyadaya Yojana –National Rural livelihoods Mission, funding and training through Rural Self Employment training Institutes is provided for entrepreneurship or self employment. The Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), is also implementing a placement linked skill development program called the DDU-GKY - Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana for providing migration support facilities to skilled migrant workers in the country by setting up Migration Support Centres. The Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) provides a grant of Rs.10.00 lakhs per Migration Support Centre (MSC) per annum. The Code on Wages Bill has been introduced in the Lok Sabha, which once enacted will address the difference in minimum wages across states/ regions and sectors and will cover all workers in all sectors including migrant workers.
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