The eShram registration drive was organised by Prajavani and Deccan Herald at their MG Road office on Thursday.
Credit: DH PHOTO/Prashanth HG
The state government will soon bring in a new compulsory gratuity bill to ensure employees are not denied their gratuity even if the company goes under, said Labour Minister Santosh Lad.
Lad was speaking at the ‘eShram registration drive for newspaper distributors’, organised by Prajavani and Deccan Herald at their MG Road office on Thursday.
"Under the gratuity scheme, the company or the employers should invest the gratuity amount in insurance companies. This will ensure that the employees receive their gratuity amount, even if the company goes bankrupt,” he said.
Once the bill is passed, it would benefit nearly 80 lakh employees across the state, he added.
Corpus fund for unorganised workers
"There is also a plan to establish a corpus fund for unorganised workers by imposing a cess of Rs 1 on every litre of petrol and diesel so that these workers can avail greater benefits,” he said.
The minister also noted that the age limit for unorganised workers applying for the eShram scheme will be extended to 70 years, and efforts are on to propose a bill recommending a 5 percent reservation for people with disabilities in the private sector.
"We have thought of bringing nearly 40 lakh unorganised workers in the transport department, including autorickshaw drivers, mechanics, and garage owners, under the eShram scheme. Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy has agreed to provide nearly Rs 250 crore under the 11per cent transport cess being collected. We will discuss it with the Chief Minister to provide social security to this sector’s unorganised workers,” he said.
More than one crore unorganised workers in 394 sectors in the state are eligible to apply for eShram.
The minister proposed that unorganised workers in 10 other professions, including newspaper distributors, photographers, street vendors, tailors, and people working in the field of cinema, will also be included under the scheme.
Labour Commissioner HN Gopalakrishna pointed out that of the 40,000 newspaper distributors, only 5,000 had registered under eShram and urged more people to register for the scheme.