Cabinet may clear unorganised sector Bill today
Business Standard, 06-09-07

The Unorganised Sector Workers Social Security Bill will be cleared by the Cabinet tomorrow.

Mired in controversy following trade union protests on the grounds that it was inadequate, the Bill that the Cabinet will consider tomorrow will incorporate some but not all concerns of the trade unions.

The earlier version of the Bill was noncommittal on the schemes offered to unorganised sector workers. All it envisaged was a National Advisory Board and the state-level bodies which would formulate schemes for the unorganised workers from time to time.

This caused an uproar when the Cabinet cleared this version on May 24 with trade unions and Left parties threatening to go on strike if the Bill was cleared in that form.

Later, following a review by a Group of Ministers that concluded last week, the government put in place specific schemes that would get legislative assent of Parliament.

In the Bill, which the Cabinet will clear tomorrow, some schemes have been spelt out to be implemented by a National Board for Country-wide Rollout.

The Bill is expected to give the same treatment to the agricultural and non-agricultural unorganised workers although several bodies have flagged the point that these are two distinct categories with different problems.

The government has resolved to bring a separate Bill on working conditions of these two categories of labour, later. it is not known if financial committments form part of the bill.

However, government says, spelling out schemes means an implicit financial committment.