Salient points of speech by Sh. Prakash Javadekar in Rajya Sabha

Salient Points of the speech made by Shri Prakash Javadekar, BJP MP on the private member resolution on the need to create conducive atmosphere for the working classes who generate wealth for the Nation in the Rajya Sabha on March 1, 2013

BJP MP, Shri Prakash Javadekar today urged the Government to ensure implementation in letter and spirit the five aspects relating to workers spelt out by International Labour Organisation (ILO) – Dignity of Labour; Job and Wage Security; Equal Opportunity; Decent work and Social Security.

“There is an urgent need to implement the five principles spelt out by the ILO with regard to workers at the earliest… What our country is right now experiencing is a jobless growth.  If you see the NSSO figures you would find that in the past 6-7 years only two million jobs have been created.  This situation needs to be speedily addressed,” Shri Javadekar said.

Asserting that there is a need to create a conducive atmosphere for the working classes who generate wealth for the Nation, Shri Javadekar said “I don’t think it is bad the focus of the Owners or Entrepreneurs on ensuring ‘production and profit’…But if they want Production and Profit, they will have to ensure employment, employment guarantee and right wages too.”

“Inflation is eating away the purchasing power of the workers, putting them in distress.  Lack of adequate employment opportunities and job and wage security is making the life of workers miserable,” he said.

Highlighting the predicament of the working class, whether in the organized or unorganised sector, he pointed out that the condition of the working class even in the organized sector is not conducive.  Now most of the workers hired in the organized sector are on Contract and on wages that are much less than regular employees.  Even Government and Public Sector organizations have started hiring workers on contract in the name of “outsourcing”.  The working conditions of journalists and non-journalists in some of the media organizations are also not conducive.

“Contractual workers are facing problems despite The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 that provides that the rates of wages payable to contract workers should not be less than the rates prescribed under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948.”

“Being a member of the Press Council of India (PCI) I can cite an instance where a media person, who has been elected to the PCI as a member, does not get leave from his organisation to even attend the meeting of the PCI, which is not good,” he said.

Social security of workers is another big issue and challenge, he said.  In this context, he pointed out the government has withdrawn the sovereign security attached to Pension Scheme in 2004 and thus compromised with the social security of lakhs of government and PSU employees.  The social security of over Six crore employees covered under the EPS95 scheme is even worst. Despite employees and Employers contributing 8.33% each of the wage per month/per employee, over 40 lakh pensioners under the EPS95 scheme are getting less than Rs 1000 per month as pension.  Of the 40 lakh, nearly 30 lakh beneficiaries are getting only about Rs 500 per month as pension.  There are instances where the beneficiary is getting only Rs 20 or Rs 50 per month.

Highlighting the plight of agricultural workers Shri Javadekar emphasized the wages of farm labourer is very low.  “When the farmers themselves are not getting adequate MSP for their produce, how can they pay adequate wages for farm labourers?” he asked.

Wage revision is another major issue that is impacting the inflation-battered working class severely.  Wage revision in Insurance and Banking Sector is pending.  Being the President of LIC employees Union I can tell you that the timeframe of the last wage revision implementation ended in July 2012, however, the Management is not calling meeting for the new wage revision talks.  In fact, the negotiation should have been held before the timeframe of last wage revision ended.  Same is the case with the Banking Sector employees too, he said.

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