Trade unions to attend unorganised workers' Bill meet on Oct 16

The Parliamentary Standing Committee has called all trade unions to discuss the Unorganised Sector Workers' Bill on October 16. The unions, cutting across party affiliations, have decided to oppose the Bill in its present form at the meeting.

The Bill aims to provide social security cover to approximately 370 million workers in the unorganised sector.

The standing committee, headed by Sudhakar Reddy of the Communist Party of India (CPI), started deliberations on the Bill last week. The trade unions will be attending the second meeting of the standing committee.

Sources said the unions plan to ask the government to take a "time-bound approach" to bring all the workers under the security net within five years.

"The rural employment guarantee scheme had a constitutional guarantee of being completed in five years. We want a similar approach in this issue," said Tapan Sen, national secretary of the CPI (Marxist)'s worker's wing, Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU).

The trade unions insist that the government should heed the Arjun Sengupta Committee's recommendations proposing two separate bills for agricultural and non-agricultural workers.

They felt the present legislation lacks "teeth" and a proper grievances redressal system.