Lok Sabha Question No. 182 (STARRED), answered on 2021-03-08
Subject: Non-payment of Salaries
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: Rama Devi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT

## LOK SABHA

STARRED QUESTION NO. 182 TO BE ANSWERED ON 08.03.2021

## NON-PAYMENT OF SALARIES

†*182. SHRIMATI RAMA DEVI:

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

- (a)whether the Government centrally maintains the record of complaints  regarding  non-payment  of  salaries  to  workers  and labourers;
- (b)if so, the details thereof along with the details of the rules framed regarding taking action against contractors and firms for not paying salaries; and
- (c)if  not,  the  basis  on  which  the  policy  regarding  workers' welfare is made in the absence of the said record?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (c): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF LOK SABHA STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  182  FOR  08.03.2021    BY  SHRIMATI  RAMA  DEVI

REGARDING 'NON-PAYMENT OF SALARIES'.

(a) to (c): Yes, Sir. The Government maintains the record of complaints/grievances  received  from  aggrieved  citizens  including  workers and  labourers  on  Centralized  Public  Grievance  Redress  And  Monitoring System  (CPGRAMS),  which  is  an  online  web-enabled  system  developed  by National Informatics Centre, in association with Department of Administrative  Reforms  and  Public  Grievances  (DARPG).    CPGRAMS  is  a platform based on web technology which primarily aims to enable submission  of  grievances  by  the  aggrieved  citizens  from  anywhere  and anytime (24x7) basis to Ministries/Departments/Organisations who scrutinize and take action for speedy  redressal of these grievances. Further, complaints  are  also  received  through  social  media  handles/email/offline mode.

Whenever complaints are received regarding non-payment or less payment of wages/ salaries to labourers under Central Sphere, the same are examined and addressed by the Officers of the Central Industrial Relations Machinery (CIRM) under the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) by conducting inspections wherever required, in the establishments and filing claims before the concerned authorities under Minimum Wages Act, 1948 and Payment of Wages Act, 1936.

The Government has received a total number of 2395 complaints/ payment/delayed payment  of  salaries  to  workers  and  labourers  during  the  period  from grievances on CPGRAMS regarding non-payment/less 01.01.2020 to 31.01.2021.

Labour  being  under  the  Concurrent  List,  the  enforcement  of labour  laws  is  carried  out  by  the  State  Governments  and  the  Central Government in their respective jurisdictions.  The wages/ salaries of workers are protected under Minimum Wages Act, 1948 and Payment of Wages Act, 1936.  The enforcement of these laws is secured through the CIRM Officers in  the  Central  Sphere  and  through  the  State  enforcement machinery in the

State Sphere.

Payment of Wages Act, 1936 is aimed at ensuring timely payment unauthorised with of wages  to workers and protecting them against any deductions. The Act has penal provisions for contravention imprisonment or fine or with both.

The aforesaid Act along with Minimum Wages Act, 1948 has now been subsumed in the Code on Wages, 2019 which has been notified by the Government on   08.08.2019.   The Code has more stringent penal provisions for non-payment/ less payment of wages/ salaries to workers.

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