Labour and Excise Minister T.P. Ramakrishnan has warned bureaucrats against the persecution of employers in the name of the new labour regulations that are meant to forge a new work culture in the State. He said the government would not tolerate any hounding of job-providers. It would intervene strongly in case employers were found ill-treated in the name of the new labour regulations.
The Minister, speaking to reporters after an interactive session on the draft labour policy 2017, said the government’s intention was to create a culture in which the job-providers would correct themselves. He appealed to trade, business and other sectors that provided jobs to cooperate with the government’s efforts to create a new job and work culture in the State.
‘Nokku kooli’
The Minister said the government was duty-bound to end practices such as nokku kooli, involving payments made for notional works. He called on the employers to cooperate to end the practice as well as to end corruption.
He said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan would launch a new insurance scheme termed ‘Awaz’ for migrant labourers on Wednesday in Thiruvananthapuram. The scheme, which involves the payment of premium by the government, will see the worker getting up to ₹15,000 worth of medical treatment in government hospitals or hospitals empanelled by the government. If a worker dies, the family will get up to ₹2 lakh. The worker will also be paid compensation in case there is disablement of permanent nature. The scheme will be operational from January. About one lakh workers had been registered so far and another five lakh will be registered under the insurance scheme by December 30.