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This is a battle between life and livelihood, says union minister
We have to come out of this situation with practical solutions that benefit both the workers as well as the employers union minister of state for labour and employment (independent charge) Santosh Kumar Gangwar said.
The national lockdown imposed to check the spread of Covid-19 has left thousands of workers jobless, and forced many of them to leave big cities for their homes. Union minister of state for labour and employment (independent charge) Santosh Kumar Gangwar tells Smriti Kak Ramachandran in an interview about how the states and the Centre are coordinating to ensure the workers are paid and their interests are looked after.
Edited excerpts:
How is the ministry ensuring that workers’ demands and concerns are addressed by the states since labour is on the concurrent list?
The ministry has set up a workers’ helpline and 20 control rooms across India. Seventy-five senior officers from the office of the chief labour commissioner (central) are addressing various wage and employment-related grievances under the central sphere, and also the issues of migrant workers. The coordinated efforts of central and state governments are required to resolve these grievances; so we have asked all states and Union Territories to sensitise officers of their labour departments about these control rooms, and designate nodal officers to coordinate with them. This will allow greater synergy between the Centre and the states, and a quicker resolution of complaints.
Will you consider demands from states and industry bodies to use Employees’ State Insurance funds for payment of wages during the lockdown?
The finance ministry has released a relief package. Presently, we are listening to the stakeholders and seeking suggestions. All of this will be shared with the finance ministry and all the ministries concerned. As for questions about a financial package, that should be dealt with and responded to by the finance ministry. We wrote to states and Union Territories on March 24 that they can use appropriate money from their portion of the Rs 31,000 crore accumulated from the building and construction cesses. We have informed the states that if they wish to, they can use a portion of this fund for eligible beneficiaries. A reasonable amount of money from the fund can also be transferred into the accounts of an estimated 35 million registered building and other construction workers.
There are concerns that if workers are not paid, they may not enough money to survive.
We have about 400 million people in the unorganised sector. The states will have to come up with ways to ensure they are also looked after. This is a battle between life and livelihood, but with the comprehensive efforts of citizens and the government, India will win the battle soon. We have to come out of this situation with practical solutions that benefit both the workers as well as the employers.
The government has also made it possible for people to withdraw EPF (Employees’ Provident Fund). There has been a good response to that scheme because it has helped improve liquidity and put money into the hands of the workers. Further, support to a big section of employees and employers has also been extended. The expenditure of Rs 4,860 crore will be taken care of by the government through the 24% EPF contribution.
What has are the kinds of complaints you have received on the helpline?
In three days, we received over 300 complaints and about 60% of these pertain to states. We closely monitor these helpline numbers to assess the rate and quality of disposal of grievances/complaints/distress calls - whether they have been addressed in time or if there is an issue that needs to be dealt by any state government. A majority of the complaints have been about non-payment or delays in payment of wages, and action has been taken. We get real-time testimonies from people whose complaints are being resolved. Some of the other requests were for faster resolution of EPFO (Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation) claims.
Several industry bodies have raised the issue of a shortage of manpower across sectors because of a large scale movement of the migrant workforce...
The agriculture sector has largely been exempted from the lockdown, and there is no shortage there. I have been told that labour for agriculture is actually now available at a little competitive daily wage basis than before. But the situation will be better in future and the labour will eventually move where the job opportunities are available.
People should not hesitate to lodge complaints with the helpline numbers. We are here to solve their problems; the numbers are provided on the website of the ministry.
