| Dear Sir,
We wish to draw you attention towards
urgent need for a Comprehensive Legislation and not
piecemeal Legislative attempts for the Unorganized
Sector Workers numbering 37 crores of which substantial
numbers are women.
We would like to remind you that
on 5th May 2005, a massive rally of Twenty Thousand
Unorganized Sector Workers to the Parliament submitted
Petitions signed by over a million workers (copy enclosed)
through the Lok Sabha Speaker Mr. Somnath Chatterjee
to the Petition Committee of Lok Sabha giving details
of the main contents of the legislation without which
a law can not be implemented. We had invited you to
address this rally. We are enclosing a copy of the
petition for your ready reference.
On 13th May Justice V. R. Krishna
Iyer wrote a letter to the Prime Minister enclosing
the full draft of the Bill proposed by NCC-USW. This
Bill was prepared on the basis of suggestions which
came out of several seminars on the Unorganized Sector
Workers Bill during last one and half years in which
representatives of several segments of Unorganized
Sector Worker and the workers of these sectors themselves
participated actively. This Bill was further improved
by former senior officials of the Labour Ministry
and by Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer.
A Quote from his letter: "The temptation to rush
through Parliament a half-baked law providing for
a modicum of welfare and social security may be great,
but I am sure that it will be a gross betrayal of
the expectations and genuine needs of the 37 crore
workers and their dependents. I am confident that
you will not let this happen". Justice V. R.
Krishna Iyer has said this in the light of past experience
of getting a Central Legislation for Construction
Workers; even with a Nation wide Campaign, a deficient
law was enacted and even though nine years have passed,
no effective implementation could be achieved.
Apart from the NCC - USW Bill on the Unorganized Sector
Workers, there have been many drafts of Unorganized
Sector Workers Bill, prepared during the periods of
NDA Government ( 4 drafts of Bill circulated by the
Ministry of Labour) and the UPA Government ( one Bill
by Ministry of Labour, two Bills drafted by National
Commission for Enterprises on Unorganized and Informal
Sector and the one circulated by NAC being the most
diluted version) but none of them except ours, takes
care of the Social Security, Welfare and Regulation
of employment and wages, conditions of service, dispute
resolution, Rights over Natural and Common Resources,
Complaints Committee on Sexual Harassment together
in an integrated form without which no Legislation
can be implemented in the prevailing working conditions
of the Unorganized Sector Workers. Workers must be
given due space not merely as 'beneficiaries' but
as active participants in the formulation and implementation
of schemes, with adequate representation including
proportionate representation to women workers in the
Tripartite Boards at Local, Taluka, District and State
Levels and only then the Legislation can be implemented
effectively.
On 14th Feb' 2003 National Advisory Council had organized
a consultation with the Labour Minister where NCC-USW
representative and the Central Trade Union representatives
were present. After hearing the Labour representatives
the Union Minister for Labour had assured that he
would appoint a "drafting committee" to
draft the Comprehensive Legislation on the basis of
available background and then he would organize a
'National Seminar' to discuss the issue of a Comprehensive
Legislation to get a National Consensus but neither
was National Seminar organized nor a Drafting Committee
appointed.
Although no 'drafting committee'
was appointed till now, we received a letter from
the office of the Director General ( Labour Welfare)
dated 13th August 2005 inviting comments on the draft
of the Unorganized Sector Worker Social Security Bill
2005 prepared by the National Advisory Council by
26th August 2005.Meanwhile 21st August 2005 the Hindu
reported press statement of the acting chairman of
the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized
Sector that the Commission has recommended replacing
the Unorganized Sector Worker Bill, drafted by the
previous Govt., by the two new bills -the Unorganized
Sector Worker Social Security Bill,2005 and the Unorganized
Sector Worker (Condition of work and Livelihood Promotion)
Bill 2005.
Another news item on the same day
gave impression that the Monsoon Session of the Parliament
is being extended to introduce few more Bills now
itself including the Unorganized Sector Worker Social
Security Bill which was expected to be introduced
in the Winter Session.
The two Bills referred above have not been circulated
although since last few days they are available on
the website of National Commissioner on Enterprises
in Unorganized Sector.
In view of the Petition pending with
the Petitions Committee of Lok Sabha and your assurances
for appointing a 'drafting committee' and calling
a National Seminar. It is not reasonable to expedite
and introduce a 'half - baked Bill' in the Parliament
in the current session. A Bill once introduced has
obvious limitations to the amendments which can be
accepted in the Parliament. Therefore we request you
to raise these issues in the Parliament so that only
an INTEGRATED AND COMPREHENSIVE BILL on the Unorganized
Sector Workers gets introduced in the winter session
of the Parliament.
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