The Unorganised Sector Workers Act 2008 Presentation based

The Unorganised Sector Workers' Act, 2008 Presentation based on A Critique of the Act By Shri T S Sankaran Former Additional Secretary- Ministry of Labour, Government of India Past President of Lok Raj Sangathan And presently Honrary Chairperson of Lok Raj Sangathan vlaxf. Br {ks= et+nwj dkuwu 2008 Jh Vh , l ladju fj. Vk; MZ fof'k"B lfpo] Je ea=ky; ] Hkkjr ljdkj yksd jkt lax. Bu ds iwo. Z v/; {k o or. Zeku ekuuh; l. Hkkifr }kjk dkuwu dh leh{kk ij vk/kkfjr çLrqfr 1

Unorganised Workers • Unorganised workers, be they wage labour, home based workers or self employed workers, with their dependents account for the bulk of our population • Contribute to two thirds of our national product • Form 93% of our workforce vlaxf. Br et+nwj § vkcknh ds T; knkrj yksx] pkgs os osru ij dke djrs gksa] ? kj ls dke djrs gksa ; k Lofu; ksftr gksa] vius ifjokj ds lk. Fk vlaxf. Br et+nwjksa dh Js. kh esa vkrs g. Sa § jk"Vªh; m. Rikn dks nks&frgkb. Z i. Snk djrs g. Sa § Jfedksa dk 93% g. Sa 2

What did unorganised workers fight for? • A comprehensive law encompassing all aspects of their work and life at work including regulation of their - Employment, - Wages, - Social security, - Safety & conditions of work vlaxf. Br et+nwj fdl ds fy; s la? k"k. Z dj jgs Fks § , d , sls lo. Z&O; kih dkuwu ds fy, ] ftlls muds dke r. Fkk dke ds thou ds l. Hkh igyw fu; af=r gksa] ftuesa 'kkfey g. Sa & § § jkst+xkj osru lkekftd lqj{kk dk; ZLFky dh ifjf. LFkfr o lqj{kk 3

They fought for • Their lawful right as the citizens and workers of our country • Not a munificence from the Government But now Serious discontent among the vast masses of unorganised workers about the contents of the Act m. Ugksaus la? k"k. Z fd; k § bl ns'k ds ukxfjd gksus ds ukrs o et+nwj gksus ds ukrs vius U; k; iw. k. Z vf/kdkjksa ds fy; s § u fd ljdkj dk ijksidkj ds fy, ij. Urq vc • bl dkuwu dh varo. ZLrq ds çfr vlaxf. Br {ks= ds vke et+nwjksa esa xa. Hkhj vlarks"k 4

Act ignored all recommendations of • • Second National Labour Commission, Report of the Petitions Committee of Lok Sabha, Report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee for Labour Report along with draft laws prepared by the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector bl dkuwu us l. Hkh fl. Qkfj'kksa dks ut+jvankt fd; k § § f}rh; jk"Vªh; Je vk; ksx dks yksd l. Hkk dh ; kfpdk lfefr dh fjiks. VZ dks Je ds ekeyksa ij laln dh LFkk; h lfefr dh fjiks. VZ dks vlaxf. Br {ks= ds m|eksa ij jk"Vªh; vk; ksx dh fjiks. VZ r. Fkk dkuwuksa ds fof. Hk. Uu elk. Snksa dks 5

Claimed purpose of the Act • • “To provide for social security and welfare to the unorganised workers and for other matters connected therewith or incidental thereto“. Term "social security" is not defined in the law; Even more strangely , the term does not occur in the body of the law in any substantive sense. Emphasis seems to be only on schemes of welfare. Not a social security Act for unorganised workers dkuwu dk df. Fkr mÌs'; § **vlaxf. Br et+nwjksa ds d. Y; k. k ds fy; s o mudks lkekftd lqj{kk çnku djus ds fy; s vk. Sj mlls tq. M+s ; k lacaf/kr l. Hkh elyksa ij. A** § dkuwu esa lkekftd lqj{kk dh ifj. Hkk"kk ugha g. SA § blls Hkh T; knk vk'p; Ztud] iwjs dkuwu esa Bksl rjhds ls bl 'k. Cn dk ç; ksx gh ugha g. SA § , slk çrhr gksrk g. S fd fl. QZ d. Y; k. k ds mik; ksa ij tksj fn; k x; k g. SA vlaxf. Br et+nwjksa ds fy; s lkekftd lqj{kk dk dkuwu ugha 6

No welfare schemes exclusively for workers • Schedule I of the Act describes applicable "welfare" schemes • Schemes listed out in Schedule I are for the general population and not exclusively for workers, • Bulk of these schemes are devised and designed as Poverty Alleviation efforts meant for families below the Poverty Line. fl. QZ et+nwjksa ds fy; s dksb. Z d. Y; k. kdkjh mik; ugha § dkuwu dh vuqlwph 1 esa mfpr **d. Y; k. kdkjh** mik; ksa dk o. k. Zu g. S] § vuqlwph 1 ds lkjs mik; ] l. Hkh yksxksa ds fy; s g. S] u fd fl. QZ et+nwjksa ds fy; s] § T; knkrj mik; xjhch js[kk ls uhps ds ifjokjksa ds fy; s xjhch m. Uewyu ds fy; s cuk; s x; s g. SA 7

Clever move to divide workers • The schemes meant for BPL families also constitute "welfare" schemes for unorganised workers • National Campaign Committee for Unorganised Sector Workers suspect that this Act is essentially for workers below the Poverty Line • An attempt is to create a divide among workers as being above or below the Poverty Line. et+nwjksa dks cka. Vus dh , d /kwr. Z pky § xjhch js[kk ds uhps ds ifjokjksa ds d. Y; k. kdkjh mik; vlaxf. Br et+nwjksa ds fy; s Hkh ykxw gksrs gh g. Sa § vlaxf. Br et+nwjksa dh jk"Vªh; vf. Hk; ku lfefr dk 'kd g. S fd ; g dkuwu ewy : i ls xjhch js[kk ds uhps ds et+nwjksa ds fy; s g. S § xjhch js[kk ds Åij o uhps ds et+nwjksa dks cka. Vus dh dksf'k'k dh x; h g. S 8

No time limit for implementation • Commencement of the Act is left to be decided by the Central Government. • Not even a time limit, say 12 months, has been prescribed. dk; ZUou ds fy; s dksb. Z le; dh e; k. Znk ugha § dkuwu dks ykxw djus dk le; ds. Unz ljdkj ij Nks. M+k x; k g. SA § 12 efgus t. Slh Hkh le; dh e; k. Znk fu; qä ugha dh x; h g. SA 9

A contributory scheme No concern for employment • • • The Act prescribes that nonpayment of the contribution disentitles the worker from getting any benefits. So it is a contributory scheme. Without any employment, the workers will not be able to pay even the minimal contribution. Lack of full time and regular employment is the biggest concern of unorganised workers. The Act does not address the basic issue facing them. va'knk; h mik; csjkstxkjh ij dksb. Z ç; kstu ugha § dkuwu dk uq. L[kk g. S fd viuk fg. Llk u vnk djus ij et+nwj dks fgryk. Hk ugha feysxk. A vr% ; g , d va'knk; h mik; g. SA § fcuk jkstxkj ds et+nwj U; wure fg. Llk vnk ugha dj ik; saxs. A § vlaxf. Br et+nwjksa dh lcls c. M+h fp. Urk iw. k. Zdkfyd o fu; fer jkst+xkj feyuk g. SA dkuwu bl ewy eqÌs dks lacksf/kr ugha djrk g. SA 10

‘Family’ not defined • • The Act does not define the "Family" There is a danger that in the interpretation of the “family" may be restricted to include only the worker, his/her spouse and up to two children. Dealing with the most disadvantaged sections of our society and keeping in view our social traditions of strong family ties, it is desirable to also include parents of the worker and/or the spouse, dependent widowed sister, dependent widowed daughter-in-law and so on. Without this, the "Social" in social security will not attain its full stature. ifjokj dh ifj. Hkk"kk ugha § dkuwu **ifjokj** dh ifj. Hkk"kk ugha nsrk § ifjokj dk eryc et+nwj] mldk ifr@i. Ruh o nks rd c. Pps fudkyus dk [+krjk g. SA § lekt ds lcls fupys Lrj ds ckjs esa /; ku nssus ij vk. Sj vius ns'k esa xgjs ikfjokfjd fj'rs dh lkekftd ij. Eijk dks /; ku esa j[krs gq; s] et+nwj o mldh i. Ruh@ifr ds ekrkfirk] vkf. Jr fo/kok cgu ; k vkf. Jr fo/kok cgq] vkfn dks ifjokj dk ln. L; ekuuk pkfg; s Fkk. A § **lkekftd** ds fcuk lkekftd lqj{kk dh efgek cgqr de gks tkrh g. S 11

Definition of ‘unorganised worker’ • The Act defines an unorganised worker as "a home based worker, self employed worker, or a wage worker in the unorganised sector. . . ". • The term "Unorganised Sector" restricts the coverage to those enterprises employing workers who number less than 10 or 20 for enterprises not using power. • Enough loopholes in the definition to deny the benefits vlaxf. Br et+nwj dh ifj. Hkk"kk § dkuwu dh ifj. Hkk"kk ls **vlaxf. Br et+nwj , d ? kj ls dke djus okyk et+nwj g. S] , d Lo; e~ jkt+xkjh et+nwj] ; k , d osru. Hkksxh vlaxf. Br {ks= esa dke djus okyk et+nwj ----** § **vlaxf. Br {ks=** dk eryc , sls m|eksa rd gh lhfer j[kk x; k g. S ftuesa 10 ls de] ; k ftuesa fctyh 'kf. Dr dk ç; ksx ugha gksrk g. S] muesa 20 ls de et+nwj dke djrs g. Sa § bldh lqfo/kkvksa dks udkj us ds fy, vk. Sj ifj. Hkk"kk esa dk. Qh cpko ds jk. Lrs Nks. M+s x; s g. Sa. A 12

Total lack of legislative policy or intent Parliament is entitled to, and in fact obliged to, build into the law • what constitutes appropriate and adequate social security for unorganised workers and their dependents, • eligibility criteria, • scale of benefits that they are entitled to receive and under what conditions, • the funding arrangements to meet the cost of social security o. S/kkfud uhfr ; k bjkns dh deh laln dks vf/kdkj g. S vk. Sj mldk dr. ZO; Hkh g. S fd dkuwu esa fn; k tk; s § vlaxf. Br et+nwjksa o muds ifjtuksa ds fy; s i; k. ZIr lqj{kk dk eryc D; k g. SA § ykxw gksus dk ekuna. M § fdl ifjf. LFkfr vk. Sj fdu 'krks. Za ij m. Ugsa lqfo/kk; s fdl i. Sekus ij feysaxh. A § lkekftd lqj{kk dks ykxw djus ds fy; s /ku jk'kh dk çca/ku 13

Parliament abdicates responsibility • Our Parliamentarians have enacted a law which enables the Central and State Governments to do whatever they deem expedient. • Workers have not been entitled to receive minimum standards of social security, even after 60 years of independence. laln us viuh ft. Eesokjh R; kx nh § lkalnksa us , d , slk dkuwu cuk; k g. S tks ds. Unz o jk. T; ljdkjksa ij Nks. M+ nsrs g. Sa fd os viuh eth. Z ls dkuwu ykxw djsa. A § vktknh ds 60 o"kks. Za ds ckn Hkh et+nwj dks lkekftd lqj{kk dk U; wure Lrj Hkh gkfly ugha gks ik; k g. SA 14

Conclusion • • The Act as enacted is totally inadequate. Government ignored recommendations of all the workers’ organisations and its own commissions The law has failed to indicate clearly the extent of funds that must be earmarked for providing social security and welfare. In all, the Act suffers from a serious lack of legislative policy and intent. fu"d"k. Z dkuwu fc. Ydqy v; ks. X; g. SA § ljdkj us et+nwjksa ds lax. Buksa vk. Sj vius [kqn ds vk; ksxksa dh lkjh fl. Qkfj'kksa dks ut+jvankt fd; k g. SA § dkuwu d. Y; k. k o lkekftd lqj{kk çnku djus ds fy; s t: jh fuf/k ij ladsr nsus esa vl. Qy g. SA § lkjka'k esa] dkuwu esa o. S/kkfud uhfr o bjkns dh xa. Hkhjrk ls deh g. SA 15

Thank you /k. U; okn 16