By IANS,
Kolkata: Terming the West Bengal government’s approach towards improving the condition of unorganised sector workers as ‘disappointing’, a forum of unorganised workers’ unions Thursday demanded revision and notification of minimum wages as per Indian Labour Conference (ILC) norms.
The Ashangathit Kshetra Shramik Sangrami Manch (Unorganised Sector Workers Revolutionary Forum), a body of 22 labour unions, demanded completion of the process of revision and notification of minimum wages started by the erstwhile Left Front government.
The forum released a report card on the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress-Congress regime’s performance in implementing various labour welfare schemes in its first 200 days in office.
The new government, sworn in May 20, completed 200 days Dec 5.
“The proposal for revision of minimum wages in various trades mooted by the former government was to some extent materialised by the new government when it notified the revision of the minimum wages in 31 out of 61 trades in the unorganised sector. There is an immediate need for extending the measure to the rest of the trades,” said Anuradha Talwar, a member of the Manch.
Terming the performance of the government as “dismal and disappointing”, Talwar said: “The signs we see are not good and are ominous. The government cannot continue to neglect the unorganised workers.”
“We are aware of the financial position of the state, but all our demands do not require use of funds, rather commitment of the government to reform the workers’ condition.”
She also said that in spite of availability of funds under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), the government is unable to generate the required number of jobs under the scheme.
The average person days created till November 2011 is 15 which is projected to reach 23 days at the end of March 2012, says the report card, a copy of which has not only been sent to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee but also to the principal secretaries of the departments concerned.
The forum demanded that the public distribution system should be routed through village panchayats rather than through dealers who often engage in black marketing of grain, resulting in the benefits not reaching those for whom tehse are intended.
Terming wage implementation in the state as a ‘farce’, the forum demanded proper enforcement of the various wage related laws and regulations and introducing punitive measures for their violation.
“In order to ensure that workers are able to systematically deal with unfair labour practices and wage cheating, all unorganised sector workers must be given identity cards.”
“All workers of closed industrial units must be extended facilities to relieve their problems like automatic exclusion and extension of BPL facilities, provision of unemployment allowance, provisions of cheap food etc,” said Prithish Sarkar, another member of the Manch.