Lok Sabha Question No. 1412 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-01
Subject: Change in Labour Laws
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: Uday Pratap Singh, Ranjanben Dhananjay Bhatt

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1412 TO BE ANSWERED ON 01.07.2019

## CHANGE IN LABOUR LAWS

## †1412. SHRI UDAY PRATAP SINGH: SHRIMATI RANJAN BEN DHANANJAY BHATT:

Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state:

- (a)whether  the  Government  proposes  to  bring  about  a  sea  change  in  the labour  laws  through  amendment  keeping  in  view  the  interests  of labourers/workers and if so, the details thereof;
- (b)whether  the  Government  proposes  to  take  stringent  steps  for  early disposal of various problems being faced by labourers/ workers and if so, the details thereof;
- (c)whether  the  Government  has  developed  any  portal,  Mobile  App  or worked  out  any  scheme  for  disposal  of  their  problems  and  if  so,  the details thereof; and
- (d)the details of concrete steps taken so far or proposed to be taken by the Government to address the labour issues?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SHRI SANTOSH KUMAR GANGWAR)

- (a) & (b): The Ministry has taken steps for drafting four Labour Codes on  Wages;  Industrial  Relations;  Social  Security;  and  Occupational  Safety, Health and Working Conditions respectively, by simplifying, amalgamating and  rationalizing  the  relevant  provisions  of  the  existing  Central  Labour Laws.    The  4  Labour  Codes  contain  provisions  relating  to  wage,  social security, safety, health and grievance redressal mechanism for workers.

Besides,  redressal  machinery  as  envisaged  in  various Labour  Acts,  the  following  on-line  portal,  mobile  App,  etc  address  the

(c): grievances of workers:-

-  CPGRAMS  (Centralized  Public  Grievance  Redress  And  Monitoring System) -   CPGRAMS is the platform which primarily aims to enable submission  of  grievances  by  the  aggrieved  citizens  including  of workers from anywhere and anytime (24x7) basis to Ministries/Departments/ Organisations who scrutinize and take action for speedy and favorable redressal of these grievances.
-  EPFiGMS (EPF i Grievance Management System) - It is a customised portal with an aim to redress grievances for the services provided by EPFO (Employees' Provident Fund Organisation).
-  UMANG (Unified  Mobile  Application  for  New-age  Governance)  APP  The  services  of  EPFO  (Employees'  Provident  Fund  Organisation)  for subscribers have been integrated and offered through  UMANG application of Government of India.
-  PENCIL  (Platform  for  Effective  Enforcement  for  No  Child  Labour) Portal  -  Online  complaints  regarding  Child  labour  can  be  filed  by anybody  on  the  PENCIL  Portal.  The  complaint  gets  assigned  to  the concerned  Nodal  Officer  automatically  by  the  system  for  rescual, rehabilitation and mainstreaming of the child labourer.
-  Shram  Suvidha  Portal  -  It  operates  a  transparent  risk  based  Online Labour Inspection Service for effective enforcement of Labour Laws so  as  to  ensure  wage  security,  job  security,  social  security  and various other safety, health and welfare measures.

(d): To  address  the  labour  issues,  the  steps  undertaken  by Government during the last few years are as follows:-

-  Under Payment of Bonus Amendment Act, eligibility limit for payment of bonus enhanced from Rs 10000/- to Rs. 21000/- per month and the Calculation  Ceiling  from  Rs.  3500/-  to  Rs.  7000/-  or  the  minimum wages.
-  Payment  of  Wages  (Amendment)  Act,  2017 enabling  payment  of Wages to employees by Cash or Cheque or crediting it to their bank account.

Contd..3/-

-  Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016 provides for complete ban on employment of children below 14 years in any occupation or process.
-  Maternity Benefit Amendment Act, 2017, increases the paid maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks.
-  The Employee Compensation (Amendment) Act, seeks to rationalize penalties and strengthen the rights of the workers under the Act.
-  The Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Act, 2018, provides flexibility to the Central Government to increase the ceiling limit of gratuity to such amount as may be notified from time to time.  The ceiling limit of gratuity  has  been  increased  from  Rs.  10  Lakh  to  20  Lakh  vide Notification dated 29th March, 2018.

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