OREANDA-NEWS. The Ministry of Labour & Employment is committed towards good governance by bringing transparency and accountability in enforcement of labour laws. Below mentioned are initiatives by the Ministry in this direction.

Governance reforms through use of Technology:

Shram Suvidha Portal: The Ministry of Labour & Employment has developed a unified Web Portal ‘Shram Suvidha Portal’. There are 4 main features of this Portal:

(i)              Unique labour identification number (LIN) will be allotted to Units to facilitate online registration.

(ii)           Filing of self-certified and simplified Single Online Return by the industry instead of filing 16 separate Returns. Amendments to 10 Rules has been taken up.

(iii)         Computerized inspection Reports within 72 hours by the Labour inspectors.

(iv)         Timely redressal of grievances.

The unique Labour Identification Number (LIN) has been issued to 7,40,850 Units as on 23.12.2014.

Transparent Labour Inspection Scheme in Central Sphere for random selection of Units for Inspection:

(i)              A computerized list of inspections to be generated randomly based on risk based algorithm.

(ii)           Complaints based inspections to be determined centrally after examination based on data and evidence.

(iii)         19,389 inspections have been generated as on 23.12.2014 since the launch of the Labour Inspection Scheme of which 15,892 have already been uploaded on Shram Suvidha Portal.

Initiatives in Progress:

(i)              Common Registration between PAN/CIN/LIN.

(ii)           Common Registration and Reporting between 5 acts namely  The EPF & MP Act, 1952, The ESIC Act, 1948, The BOCW(RECS) Act, 1996, The CL(R&A) Act, 1970, and The Inter-State Migrant Workmen(RECS) Act, 1979.

(iii)         10 states have shown interest in joining the portal.

Portability through Universal Account Number (UAN) for Employees Provident Fund: 

(i)              Digitization of complete database of  4,22,99,883  EPF subscribers and allotment of UAN to each of them.

(ii)           UAN is being seeded with Bank account and Aadhar Card and other KYC details for financial inclusion.

(iii)         EPF account of employee to be updated monthly and at the same time he will be informed through SMS.

(iv)         Direct access to their EPF accounts and will also enable them to consolidate all their previous accounts.

Initiatives in Progress:

(i)              Special drive is being taken up for enrolling contract and construction workers. This will bring this huge Unorganized Workforce into mainstream by bringing them under the formal social security cover. Details of contract workers will also be linked to Shram Suvidha Portal.

(ii)           ESIC is to seed UAN mandatorily.

New Initiatives in Demand Responsive Vocational Training, Career Servies and Quality Apprenticeship:

      India is one of the youngest countries in the world. 58% our population is below 29 years of age.  That is why job creation particularly youth employment is focus area of our employment policy. The generation of the quality jobs means better skill alignment of workforce through Demand Responsive Vocation Training and quality apprenticeship so that the employment and employability of our workforce could be enhanced. It will also act as a bridge to realize the vision of the PM on Make In India, Skill India etc. Below mentioned are initiatives by the Ministry in this direction:

1. Amendments in Apprentices Act:

 (i)           A comprehensive Amendment Bill to the Apprentices Act, 1961 that has been passed by the parliament by Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

(ii)        Trade-wise regulation of seats is to be replaced by a minimum and maximum percentage the total strength of the workers. Within this band, apprentices can be engaged in any trade.

(iii)      Industry can also engage apprentices in optional trades which are not designated, with the discretion of entry level qualification and syllabus.

(iv)      Scope being extended also to non-engineering occupations at diploma and degree level. 

(v)        Penalties in the form of fine only. 

(vi)      Permission to outsource basic training in an institute of their choice.

(vii)   Apprentices could also be from other states.

2. Launch of Apprentice Protsahan Yojna

(i)           Launched on 16th October, 2014.

(ii)        With an outlay of Rs.346 crores, Government will support one lakh apprentices in next two and a half years by sharing the 50 % of the stipend.

(iii)      A vision to have more than 20 lakh apprentices in next few years against present number of 2.9 lakh.

(iv)      Enhanced rates of stipend have been notified for trade apprentices. The minimum rate of stipend per month payable has been indexed to minimum wage of semi-skilled worker.

3.   Model Career Centres:

(i)           Outlay of the National Career Service (NCS) Project enhanced from Rs.148 crore to Rs.292 crores.

(ii)        NCS portal to be launched by March, 2015.

(iii)      100 Model Career Centres to be developed.

(iv)      To provide training in Last Mile Employability skills, a module has been finalized by Maruti.

4.   Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) for construction sector:

(i)           More than 4.2 crore workers with low skill level.

(ii)        RPL Scheme started to give 15 day gap training at site for NCVT certificate.

(iii)      To be funded from Cess funds collected from Construction projects.

(iv)      Provision of wage compensation to worker at Rs.35 per hour.

5.  Revamp of training curricula on industry recommendations:

(i)           Sector-wise Mentor Councils under the leadership of industry.

(ii)        Revised curricula implemented from August, 2014 session in manufacturing as well as services sectors.

(iii)      Integral component of soft skills included.

6.  Training of ITI instructors through distance learning technology:

(i)           Model ITIs to be set up in every state to set benchmark for quality vocational training and to establish demand centres for industries.

(ii)        1000 government Principals given training in leadership skills.

(iii)      To prepare trainers according to revised curricula.

(iv)      So far 8000 instructors trained.

(v)        Taking inputs from Germany.

7.  National Brand Ambassadors of Vocational Training:

(i)           First time initiative to enhance dignity of vocational training.

(ii)        25 successful professional and entrepreneurs honoured by the Prime Minister on 16th October, 2014.

(iii)      Their success stories are being disseminated through TV and Radio.

8.  Incubation Centres and Chairs in IITs to promote innovation and excellence:

(i)           Academia experts in Indian Institute of Technology being selected for chair position to guide Mentor Councils and innovators.

(ii)        ITI students/pass outs to work with IIT students in incubation centres.

9.   Eight new RVTIs for Women Training:

(i)           Outlay of Rs.200 crores for additional annual capacity of 3840 women.

(ii)        To be set up in 8 states which are un-served so far Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Tripura, Goa and Tamil Nadu.

(iii)      Depending upon the land availability from the state, to be functional by 2017.

10.                   Flexi MoU with industry:

(i)           Policy to encourage industry customized high potential NCVT training courses.

(ii)        Several MoUs signed including Maruti Suzuki, TATA Motors, Flipkart, Raymonds and several more proposed such as ILFS, Apparel Training and Development Centre.

11.                   New Advanced Training Institutes for training of trainers:

(i)           To address the shortage of trainers.

(ii)        12 institutes in PPP mode with capacity of 9200 with investment of Rs.20 crores.

(iii)      RFQ issued.

12.                   NCVT-MIS Portal:

(i)           To enforce academic calendar in vocational training institutions

(ii)        Portal to go live from December 2014.

(iii)      Facility of E-certification to pass outs for eliminating delays and seamless verification.

13.                   Revamped SDI portal:

(i)           Provision of biometric attendance and tracking of placement to be launched by January 2015.

(ii)        Several other user friendly facilities by March 2015.

Legislative initiatives:

Amendment to Labour Laws (Exemption from Furnishing Returns and Maintaining Registers by certain Establishments) Act

The Principal Act of 1988 provides for simplified procedure for returns and registers under 9 Labour Acts for the establishments employing upto 19 workers. The Amendment Bill, 2011 has been passed by Rajya Sabha on 25.11.2014 and Lok Sabha on 28.11.2014.  The Amendment Bill now provides to include 7 more Labour Acts under the purview of the Principal Act.  Also, the coverage of Principal Act has been expanded from the establishments employing upto 19 workers to 40 workers. The Amendment Bill also gives an option to maintain the registers electronically and to file the returns electronically. These amendments will extend the benefit of simplified procedure to more number of establishments for larger number of labour acts. Further, it will reduce the tendency of establishments to restrict the number of workers to 19. It will also lead to ease of compliance as well as better enforcement of the labour laws.