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Labour panel term extended to Feb 15

Jayanta Mallick

KOLKATA, Oct. 29

THE Union Government has extended the time for submitting its report to the Second National Labour Commission (SNLC) till February 15, 2002. This was stated by Dr G.S. Ram, Labour and Employment Advisor to the Union Government, here today.

Earlier, SNLC, which was set up in October, 1999, had sought an extension. The 10-member SNLC's term expired on September 15, 2001. It may be mentioned that the report of the First National Labour Commission was submitted in 1969, three years after its f ormation.

The SNLC is to recommend, among other things, the outline of an umbrella legislation and a framework for a broader social security net.

Dr Ram told Business Line that the Centre wanted to bring in the 370 million unorganised labour into the social security fold. Next year, coinciding with the beginning of the 10th Plan period, the Government intended to take certain initiatives on the la bour front.

Simultaneously, with the SNLC, a working group was set up by the Planning Commission for evolving a social security system to be put in place during the 10th Plan period, in keeping with the globalisation process and WTO-induced dismantling of tariff bar riers.

The working group has placed six reports on different areas for consideration of the Planning Commission, which would finalise the programmes and funding for implementation of policy planning prescribed by the SNLC. Among the areas that will require fund ing are the extended social security net and training & skill upgradation.

The SNLC, under the chairmanship of Mr Ravindra Varma, had constituted six study groups in 2000 for going into various labour-related issues, like review of labour legislation and to make relevant recommendations.

Apart from labour laws, the areas which were to be scanned by the respective groups were: unorganised sector, globalisation and its impact, social security, women worker and child labour and skills development.