Labor welfare in India

DEFINITION OF LABOR WELFARE

Labor welfare has been defined in various ways, though no single definition has found universal acceptance. The Oxford dictionary defines labor welfare as "Efforts to make life worth living for workmen." Chambers dictionary defines welfare as "A state of faring or doing well. Freedom from calamity, enjoyment of health and prosperity.’’

The Encyclopedia of Social Science defines it as "the voluntary efforts of the employers to establish, within the existing industrial system, working and sometimes living and cultural conditions of employees beyond what is required by law, the customs of the industry and the condition of market".

In the Report II of the ILO Asian Regional conference, it has been stated that worker's welfare may be understood to mean "such services, facilities and amenities, which may be established outside or in the vicinity of undertakings, to enable the persons employed therein to perform their work in healthy and congenial surroundings and to provide them with the amenities conducive to good health and high morale."

The Labor Investigation committee (1944-46) includes under labor welfare activities "anything done for the intellectual, physical, moral and economic betterment of the workers, whether by employers, by government or by other agencies, over and above what is laid down by law or what is normally expected as per of the contractual benefits for which the workers may have bargained."

The Report of the Committee on Labor welfare (1969) includes under it "such services, facilities and amenities as adequate canteens, rest and recreation facilities, sanitary and medical facilities, arrangements for travel to and from work and for the accommodation of workers employed at a distance from their homes and such other services, amenities and facilities including social security measures as contribute to improve the conditions under which worker are employer."

Thus, the whole field of welfare is said to be one "in which much can be done to combat the sense of frustration of the industrial workers, to relieve them of personal and family worries, to improve their health, to afford them means of self expression, to offer them some sphere in which they can excel others and to help them to a wider conception of life". It promotes the well-being of workers in variety of ways.

Indian Scenario"During the pre-independence period, industrial relations policy of the British Government was one of laissez faire and also of selective intervention. There were hardly any labor welfare schemes. After independence, labor legislations have formed the basis for industrial relations and social security. These legislations have also provided machinery for bipartite and tripartite consultations for settlement of disputes.

    Soon after independence, the government at a tripartite conference in December 1947 adopted the industrial truce resolution. Several legislations, including the following, were enacted to maintain industrial peace and harmony: Factories Act, 1948, Employees State Insurance Act, 1948 and Minimum Wages Act, 1948. The payment of bonus act was passed in 1965.

    In the early 1990s, the process of economic reforms was set in motion when the government introduced a series of measures to reduce control on industries, particularly large industries. The workers have opposed economic liberalization policy for fear of unemployment while entrepreneurs have welcomed it in the hope of new opportunities to improve Indian industries. The new economic policy has directly affected industrial relations in the country, because the government has to play a dual role, one of protecting the interest of the workers, and second to allow a free interplay of the market forces. Economic reforms, by removing barriers to entry, have created competitive markets. Fiscal stabilization has resulted in drastic reduction in budgetary support to the public sector commercial enterprises while exposing these enterprises to increased competition from private sector.

Labor and Labor Welfare sub-sector consists of six main programmes viz. Labor Administration, Rehabilitation of bonded labor, Assistance to Labor Cooperatives, Craftsmen training programme, Apprenticeship training programme, Employment Services and Sanjay Gandhi Swavalamban Yojana.

 

Manpower, employment policy and labor welfare in India: post-independence developments:

Many researches has been done in the following themes, such as

1. Manpower: trends and magnitude.

2. Employment policies and programmes.

3. Labor welfare: legal framework and initiatives.

4. Women workers: legislations and empowerment.

5. Industrial relations and labor laws.

6. Restructuring of labor laws: the great debate.

7. Labor laws and welfare: India and ILO.

 8. Labor reforms: India and WTO. II. India's Five Year Plans at a glance. III. Edited extracts from India's Five Year Plans on employment and labor related matters (I plan to X plan including mid-term appraisal of the X Plan).

Strengthening of Medical wing of the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health

There are different types of industries in Maharashtra like heavy and light engineering, heavy and light chemical industries, petrochemicals, pesticides, fertilizers, textile and Electronic Industries. All these pose their own potential hazards, which may cause acute and chronic side effects on the health of the workers. In Maharashtra, the chemical factories which include heavy chemical complexes or small chemical factories which may produce acute effects on the health of the workers to such an extent that it may result in death. Pesticides spilled on the body of the workers are equally dangerous.

 

Improvement of communications, mobility of Factory Inspectors

For the quick transmission of messages relating to factory accidents, gas leaks, fires and disasters in the area a broad network of office/ residential telephones is an essential-requisite for the Factory Inspector, the concerned Dy.Chief Inspector of Factories, the Chief Inspector and from C.I.F.to higher authorities. Quick transmission of such messages to the area Factory Inspector and others not only facilitates a prompt inquiry into the mishap and its causes but also enables the concerned authorities to bring into action the various control measures in the case of disaster. An outlay for Tenth Five Year Plan 2002-2007 is Rs.150.00 lakh. Out of that an outlay Rs.5.00 lakh is provided for Annual Plan 2002-2003.

Tribal sub-plan area

Labor and labor welfare

Labor sector addresses multi-dimensional socio-economic aspects affecting labor welfare, productivity, living standards of labor force and social security. To raise living standards of the work force and achieve higher productivity, skill up gradation through suitable training is of utmost importance. Manpower development to provide adequate labor force of appropriate skills and quality to different sectors is essential for rapid socioeconomic development. Employment generation in all the productive sectors is one of the basic objectives. In this context, efforts are being made for providing the environment for self-employment both in urban and rural areas. During the Ninth Plan period, elimination of undesirable practices such as child labor, bonded labor, and aspects such as ensuring workers’ safety and social security, looking after labor welfare and providing of the necessary support measures for sorting out problems relating to employment of both men and women workers in different sectors has received priority attention.

The Central Board of Workers Education through its regional offices is striving to educate the workers to help to avoid wasteful expenditure, adopting cost effectiveness and by enhancing productivity of qualitative nature. They have been conducting the following programmes:

Rural Awareness Programme. Functional Adult Literacy Classes. Short-term programmes for the unorganised sector to educate them on their rights, ethics and

hygiene. Participative Management. Orientation Courses for Rural Educators. Leadership Development Programme for Rural Workers.

Labor research and training

V.V. Giri National Labor Institute, a fully funded autonomous body of the Ministry of Labor, conducts action-oriented research and provides training to grass root level workers in the trade union movement, both in the urban and rural areas, and also to officers dealing with industrial relations, personal management, labor welfare, etc. The Institute completed the following research projects during 1999-2000:

Dynamics of Labor Market: Kerala. Women and labor Market. Labor laws, contractual parameters and conditions of construction workers. Adverse sex ratio and female labor force participation. Wage determination in rural labor force markets. Information on requirements for rural labor.

The following study was however of utmost significance??“Study on payment of wages wholly in kind and perceptions regarding Mode of payment: A study in selected States". This Study was undertaken in pursuance of directions of the Committee of Secretaries at a meeting held on1.4.99 for the purpose of amendment to the Minimum Wages Act, 1948. The study was completed in four states, viz. Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Bihar and Punjab.

 CONCLUSION India introduced literal industrial policy which is aimed at stepping up industrial growth promoting modernization and technological up gradation to make industrial competitive in both domestic and global market. In this perspective enterprises have to improve their production and productivity which is possible with the satisfaction of labour.

Even today's scientific development of modern techno- production methods higher productivity depends on workers. If they are rightly directed and fully used, it would make a great contribution to the prosperity of the enterprise.

The high rate of labour absenteeism in Indian industries is indicative of the lack of commitment on the part of the workers. This can be reduced to a great extent by provision of good housing, health and family care canteens, educational and training facilities, provision of welfare activities enables the workers to live a richer and more satisfactory life and contributes to the productivity of labour, efficiency of the enterprise and helps in maintaining industrial peace. Hence steps need to be taken on a larger scale to improve the quality of life of the workers

SANJEET KUMAR (ROLL NO.-29)