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an> Title: Further Discussion regarding problems being faced by Unorganised labour in the country raised by Shri Devendra Prasad yadav on the 7th December, 2006.

 

MR. DEPUTY-SPEAKER: The House will now take up item No. 25 on further discussion on the problems being faced by unorganized labourers. 

            Hon. Members, we have discussed about unorganized labourers for almost four hours and still, I have with me a list of more than ten hon. Members to speak.  So, it is my humble request to the hon.  Members to be very brief and it is not possible for me to give more than four minutes to each hon. Member.  I request every hon. Member to conclude his speech in four minutes. 

   

SHRI P. KARUNAKARAN (KASARGOD): Sir, thank you. I really congratulate Shri Devendra Prasad Yadav for taking up this discussion which deals with the burning problems of the unorganized workers of the country. There are about 35 crore workers engaged in this unorganized sector, of which about 25 crores, I think, are in the agriculture sector and the rest are from the other sections. The word ‘unorganised’ itself makes it clear that their bargaining power is less. As a result of this weak bargaining power they are not able to get the benefits from the management. It is natural justice that the Central Government as well as the State Governments have to come to their rescue, to their assistance.

             

20.00 hrs. SHRI S.K. KHARVENTHAN (PALANI) :  Hon. Deputy Speaker Sir, I thank the chair for the opportunity given to me to participate in this discussion on the conditions of unorganized labour in the country.  Let me also thank the mover of this motion a senior member of this august House Shri Devendra Prasad Yadav for initiating a discussion on this much vexed issue.

            39.7 crores of labourers and workers are there in this country.  Among them only 2.8 crores of people are having regular jobs.  All others are either daily wage workers or casual labourers or workers in jobs of purely temporary nature.  36.9 crores of people are in the unorganized sector.  23.7 crores of these labourers in the unorganized sector are agricultural workers.  Construction industry sector alone has got 1.7 crores of casual labour as unorganized labour.  The plight of building construction workers and their attendants is pitiable.  They do not have job guarantee.  They do not have any kind of security.  They do not have insurance cover or health cover.  They fend for themselves looking for job opportunity every morning waiting for the same standing in the street corners.  A group of 30 or 40 labourers are hired as per the need of the building contractors.  Whenever the prices of building materials like cement and iron increase along with the construction activity the job opportunities to building workers also get affected.  They go without job and food.  Heavy rains lash out their livelihood and wash out their hope for life.  They toil to raise high rise buildings and tall multi-storeyed structures but their living conditions,  their job conditions are meagerly low.

            Hence a Central legislation should be enacted to provide for the measures guaranteeing a sustaining livelihood, employment guarantee, health care, education and above all, pension on retirement or destitution. The Government is requested to enact such a legislation keeping in mind not only the economic upliftment of the unorganized workers but ensure equitable and social justice.

 

THE MINISTER OF STATE OF THE MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SHRI OSCAR FERNANDES): Mr. Deputy-Speaker, at the outset, let me thank the hon. Members of this august House, especially Shri Devendra Prasad Yadav for having raised such an important issue for discussion. The other day I was fortunate enough to go with him to address, or rather receive a memorandum from the cycle rickshaw pullars who were agitating on the issue that has been raised by him in this august House. He has drawn attention about the concern of the workers in the unorganized sector. There are a large number of workers in the unorganized sector. The people who are participating in the agitation are from Purbanchal.