Logout
Welcome
Edit News Article
Title
*
Select Subject
Working Conditions
Wages
Construction workers
Bonded labourers
Welfare schemes
Social security
Unorganised sector workers
Minority communities
Id cards for migrant workers
Trafficking
Slum dwellers
Seasonal workers
Contract system of labour
Employment
Child labour
Children of migrant workers
Trade union
Migrants Crisis
Demonetisation
None
Description
The Centre is set to issue Aadhaar-linked unique registration numbers to migrant workers. The numbers are expected to help maintain the first-ever data base of the country’s migrant workforce, something that will help push targeted welfare measures more effectively. In a May interview, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman spoke of the difficulty of targeting welfare measures at migrant workers when no one, not the Centre, nor the states, had a database. The Social Security Code—one of the three key labour reform laws passed during the last monsoon session—included a key provision to register “every unorganised worker, gig worker or platform worker”. The original version of the bill didn’t have any such provision, but after the standing committee on labour stressed on the importance of doing this in the wake of the migrant workers crisis, the government reworked the law. Clause 113(2) of the Social Security Code said: “Every eligible unorganised worker, gig worker or platform worker shall make an application for registration in such form along with such documents including Aadhaar number as may be prescribed by the Central Government and such worker shall be assigned a distinguishable number to his application.” Indeed, even in the just-ended monsoon session of parliament, because it lacked any independent headcount of migrant workers, the labour ministry could not furnish any data to queries by MPs on how many workers lost their jobs, or how many died on the way back home. Union labour minister Santosh Gangwar replied “no such data is maintained” leading to furious protests by Opposition parties. The minister also stated that 10.4 million migrant workers returned home, but maintained that the ministry had only railway ministry data to go by and didn’t have a count of the workers who tried to return by bus, trucks and other means. According to news reports, many workers and their family members died while trying to walk or travel in overloaded trucks in their desperate effort to reach home. Pitching for a unique number for workers, the labour standing committee pointed out that this would help the state clearly identify unorganized sector workers including migrant workers. It also asked for a wider definition of migrant workers to include those who are hired through contractors, come to their place of work independently, and even long-term labourers as opposed to seasonal migrants. The linkage with Aadhaar will help maintain portability of the registration number and ensure the workers receive government assistance, no matter where they are. “As migrant workers move frequently, it is necessary to link their registration with Aadhaar,” said Bhartruhari Mahtab, the chairman of the standing committee of labour in parliament. The Centre has already rolled out schemes for the unorganised sector including unemployment benefits and free ration apart from ₹50,000 crore worth of work across 25 schemes. Former rural development secretary Jugal Kishore Mohapatra feels merely having a new law is not good enough. “There had been many recommendations that unorganised workers should be registered and the government should know who they are. But just having a new law is not good enough. We can only hope that there will be effective implementation and even if the government can register 80% migrant workers, it will do a good job.”
Keywords
migrant workers, Aadhar-plus, unorganised, labour, sector, work, schemes, rural development, unemployment benefits, law, job, parliament,
Upload Image
(only .gif or .jpeg files or .x-png files. Max upload size is 20MB)
Source
Display in both Policy and News
No
Yes
Enter Video url/Embed Code :
Url
Embedded Code
External Link URL
Status
Active
Inactive
Show On Home Page
Yes
No