48L labourers brought under organised sector: Union minister

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, June 22

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Labour and Employment, Santosh Kumar Gangwar, has said that 48 lakh labourers working in the unorganised sector have been brought under organised sector and by the next year their number would increase to 1 crore. He said more Employees State Insurance (ESI) dispensaries were being planned to cover the whole country.

Gangwar was speaking at the inaugural function of the newly-constructed building of Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in Jalandhar, on Friday. The office of the EPFO caters to whole Doaba region of Punjab.

He said the number of labourers working in the unorganised sector in the country was 40 crore at present and the Prime Minister was worried about their social security. The Prime Minister had asked the Ministry of Labour and Employment to work towards their social security so that all should be included under the Employees Provident Fund.

The minister set aside the notion that fixed term employment would reduce the number of permanent jobs in the government sector. He said this had been done to streamline the labour market and there should not be any doubt that it would decrease the permanent jobs as the ministry has taken care of that factor.

He said the EPFO was trying its best for the well-being of its subscribers and Universal Account Number was adding to it. He said because of this number, now if an employee changes his employer or organisation he was working with, he need not be worried about his provident fund, as it would be automatically connected with his new employer.

He said the labourers and employees were also taking benefits of various insurance schemes launched by the government to provide them health and life cover in a very small amount.

Gangwar said the Central government had decided to bear 12 per cent of employers share towards Employees Provident Fund (EPF) for new employees under the Pradhan Mantri Rozgar Yojna and this would continue till March next year.

Concerned about the problems being faced by the pensioners regarding producing their life certificate for any finance-related work in the EPFO, the minister said the Aadhaar-based life certificate, launched by the government a few months ago, was helping them overcome this problem.

Regarding the grievances of employees and pensioners, Gangwar said the EPFO had worked out a plan to resolve these within a week.

Later, reacting to a query by media, the minister said the rate of unemployment in India was less compared to other countries. Regarding setting up of Employees' State Insurance (ESI) dispensaries across India, he said at present, 150 districts were having the dispensaries and steps and suggestions had been taken into consideration to cover the whole country.

Earlier, the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Vijay Sampla along with MP, Rajya Sabha, Shwait Malik and MP, Lok Sabha, Santokh Singh Chaudhary, welcomed the Union Minister.