Mumbai : All the unskilled and unorganised labourers will soon be under one roof with the state government set to form a common welfare board to protect their rights.
“The state government’s labour department is planning to suggest reforms in labour law. The government will form a three-member committee by the end of this month,” said Prakash Mehta, labour minister.
“The committee will study disputes between industries and labourers and will also recommend minimum wages. All the reforms and recommendation will be in force once the report is submitted. Cab drivers and auto drivers will also be under the definition of labour and can avail welfare facilities from the board,” Mehta said. Based on the recommendations suggested by the committee, the new board will be formed. In many cases, industries have very few permanent employees and they hire contractual labourers even for skilled work, which is against the labour law. The committee will help the state government correct such irregularities.
All labourers in the state working with industrial or service sector will be registered under the board, which will handle their wages. Every employer including mall contractors will have to deposit the wages of labourers with the board, which will distribute the wages to individual labourers at the board office in their district.
The board will deduct some amount from the wages deposited by the contractor or employer as levy for the welfare of the labourers.
According to sources from the labour department, about Rs 240 crore is pending with the recently established Construction Labour Board, and around 3 lakh construction labors have been registered. The government could not spend the money for the welfare of any other worker except construction labourers.
Pandurang Mhaske
