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Kerala
By Girish Menon
The party leader and Industries Minister, P.K. Kunhalikutty, made his party's views quite clear at the UDF joint parliamentary party meeting. Congress MLAs, who belong to the trade union stream, however, opposed the Bill. In the Congress, the division appeared to be widening with the Kerala Pradesh Karshaka Congress Committee opposing the trade union stand, including that of the INTUC. The Karshaka Congress said that the provisions in the Bill relating to police intervention in labour disputes was welcome. Mr Kunhalikutty said that the Bill had become the need of the day to infuse investor confidence. Both the Industries Minister and the Labour Minister, Babu Divakaran, rejected the demand for the withdrawal of the Bill. "We can end our rule here if we want. But if we want to continue, we should be prepared for a change. The IUML cannot support any move which would renege the UDF's promises made in its manifesto,'' he said. The Ministers flatly refused to change the basic structure of the Bill and would only agree to a change in the Bill's name. The INTUC leader, Varkala Kahar, who spoke at the meeting said that the Kerala Headload Workers Act had enough punitive provisions. Similarly, he said protection should be given to the existing headload workers under the Act. He said that while the Bill prescribed penalties for unlawful practices on the part of the worker, there was no guarantee against exploitation of the worker by the employer. According to the Bill, which has been circulated and is due to be piloted in the Assembly some time next week, the intention is to curb certain undesirable practices that have risen in the headload sector owing to the lack of proper regulation under the Kerala Headload Workers Act, 1978. The basic objective of the legislation is to lay down the type of activities, the eligibility of the worker, the right of employers, wages, penalties, and procedure for initiating criminal prosecution. It prohibits extortionary, intimidatory or other unlawful practices connected with loading and unloading and transportation of goods and articles both in the domestic and non-domestic sector. The objects and reason of the Bill states that the Government expected to bring an end to undesirable practices and there would seldom be any occasion for invoking the penal provisions of the Bill. The Bill, in Chapter 1, section 2 applies to any loading and unloading work or activity or process which is connected with or related to or ancillary to domestic purpose and non-domestic propose. The bill seeks to give the employer complete right to carry out loading and unloading work for domestic purpose by the employer or by employing workers of his own choice. The same provisions are applicable to non-domestic purpose. The bill seeks to bring in industrial parks, export processing zones, industrial or commercial area or establishment, business area, tourism project area, agriculture market or development area. Section 6 in Chapter 1 of the Bill prohibits workers, individually or jointly from indulging any extortionary, intimidatory or other unlawful practices in connection with or relating to or ancillary to the purposes included in the Act. It prohibits headload workers from making unauthorised entry into the private property of the employer or other person and create any obstruction or hindrance to the work or activity or process to be carried out or commit any mischief or destruction or damage to the land and property of the employer or other person whether or not such act constitutes an offence. The Bill has provisions for notified wages, which would be prescribed by the Government once in three years. It also empowers officials to fix the notified wages in cases where it has not been specifically mentioned. It has provisions which requires every worker who has received wages to give signed receipts to the employer or the person who has employed him. It also requires the inspectors and employers to maintain registers and records. It also provides for appointment of inspectors to handle labour disputes. One of the major features of the proposed Bill is the provisions relating to penalty for indulging in unlawful practices. Section 12 of the Bill stipulates that the unlawful acts mentioned within shall be punished with imprisonment up to six months, or with fine which shall not be less than Rs 2,000.In the event of obstruction and damage, the punishment prescribed is imprisonment up to two years and a fine ranging between Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000.
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