Hi Friends,

Even as I launch this today ( my 80th Birthday ), I realize that there is yet so much to say and do. There is just no time to look back, no time to wonder,"Will anyone read these pages?"

With regards,
Hemen Parekh
27 June 2013

Now as I approach my 90th birthday ( 27 June 2023 ) , I invite you to visit my Digital Avatar ( www.hemenparekh.ai ) – and continue chatting with me , even when I am no more here physically

Thursday 11 March 2021

Even Inevitable takes time

 


 

Context :

3.8 lakh contract workers register on Railways’Shramik Kalyan portal  /  BL – 12 March 2921


Extract :

Ø  Indian Railways’ Shramik Kalyan e-application, which was developed and launched on October 1, 2018, has seen registration by 15,812 contractors and 3,81,831 contract workers so far, an official release said on Thursday.

Ø  The e-application ensures compliance with the provisions of the Minimum Wages Act

Ø  The contractors are required to regularly upload WAGE PAYMENT DATA on to the e-application

Ø  This helps the Railways , as the principal employer, to keep an eye over wages disbursed by contractors to workers

Ø  The contractor has to CREATE PROFILE of each CONTRACT WORKER…and update the WAGES provided to him/her on REGULAR BASIS

Ø  There are checks in the portal to ensure that WAGES paid by the contractors conform with the MINIMUM WAGES fixed by the Government

Ø  Railway Authorities, before passing the contractors’ bills, have to check whether CONTRACTOR WORKERS WAGES DATA have been uploaded by the contractor or not. For ensuring the compliance, necessary changes have also been made in the CONTRACT CONDITIONS

Ø  Provision is available in the e-application to generate an IDENTITY ( Card / Number ) for the CONTRACT WORKER and also send TEXT MESSAGES from time to time, about WAGES PAID, and CONTRIBUTION made to the EMPLOYERS PROVIDENT FUND ( EPF ) and Employee State Insurance Corporation ( ESIC )

===================================================

HOW MUCH TIME ?


For the Punjab Mandi Board  

>  little more than 3 YEARS ( Refer : MAD goes to Mandi   /   02 Jan 2020 )

 

For the Indian Railways

>   About 5 years ( as can be inferred from above-mentioned news )


BUT SINCE WHEN ?

Since sending following E Mailed suggestion to our Cabinet Minsters :

Ø  From BAD to MAD …………………………[ 01 June 2016 ]


 

WHAT WAS YOUR SUGGESTION ?

To replace BAD ( Biometric Attendance Devices ) with MAD ( Mobile-based Attendance Devices )


HOW WAS THIS  “ MAD “ TO WORK ?


#  All smart phones to evolve as Bio-metric Attendance Devices , with built-in

    Bio-metric Recorders , GPS , a mobile attendance App ( called MAD ? )

 

#  App to have 2 buttons ( Green = IN  /  Red = OUT )

 

#  Employee to touch IN upon reaching his work-station and touch OUT ,

    while leaving work place , at the end of work-shift . That's all  !

 

#  Being GPS enabled , buttons will get activated ONLY when the employee

    has reached the work place ( not while he is on his way ! )

 

#  All 100 million establishments in India ( factories / offices / shops / clinics

    NGOs / Govt Depts ) to ensure that the MAD app is installed on the smart

    phone of each employee , when he joins

   

#  All of these smart phones to be connected ( IoT ? ) , with the Servers of ,

 

    *  Labour Ministries ( Central and States )

 

    *  HRD Ministry ( Central )

 

    *  Skills Development Ministry / NSDC

 

    *  Finance Ministries ( Central + States )

 

    *  NITI Aayog

 

    *  Income Tax Department

 

    *  Any other server that you may want to

 

 

#   MAD app is integrated with a STANDARD / COMMON , software system

     for computing daily wages / monthly salaries of ALL the persons working

     in those 100 million establishments ( whether they are casual /

     contractual  / trainee / apprentice / probationer / permanent / retained

 

 

#   As each person joins in any of these establishments , data re  that

     person must be inputted by the Employer into the App , such as :

   

     *  Name / Contact Details / DOB / Aadhar Card No / Employee Number

 

         ( Each unique Employee Number will be auto-generated by the

         common Salary Payment Software , running on IT Dept Server )

 

 

     *   Employee's Jandhan Yojana Bank Account Number for salary EC

 

 

     *   Employer's Jandhan bank account / Unique Employer Number

 

 

     *   Payment Mode ( Hourly / Daily / Monthly Rated , wages / salaries )

 

 

     *   Leave provisions / PF rate / TDS rate / Allowances / Reimbursements

 

 

     *   Any other relevant data ( either about employee of for employer )


 

WHAT  ARE  THE  ADVANTAGES  ?

 

 #   For employees , no need to file a separate annual Income Tax Return

 

#   Direct deposit of PF / TDS amounts into bank accounts of Govt Depts

 

#   Direct Benefit Transfer ( DBT ) to every Employer for Stipend Subsidy ,

     based on number of total trainees / apprentices employed

 

#   Total number of employees in India ( category / region / industry )

 

#   Employment Density ( Industry wise / Region wise / Skill wise etc )

 

#   Net Employment Growth Rate ( weekly - monthly / Industry-wise )

 

#   Co-relation with no of persons graduating at various levels

 

#   Data about those Unemployed ( " Graduating " less " Employed " )

 

#   Overtime Statistics ( Use / Abuse )

 

#   Work-hour Analysis ( Ave hours / week - month )

 

#   Wage / Salary Rates ( Rs per hour ) - Industry wise / Region wise

 

     ( of great interest to Foreign Investors looking to bring down

       manufacturing costs , by outsourcing to India / manufacturing in India )

 

#   Compliance with labour laws / tax laws / Apprentice Act etc

 

#   Job Market Forecasts through BIG DATA ANALYTIC ( region / industry )

 

#   Demographic  Profiles of employees  ( Rural to Urban migration )

 

#   Per Capita Income Growth for persons using MAD app  ( MOM / YOY )

 

#   Changing composition between Blue Collar and White Collar employees

 

===================================================

Dear Cabinet Ministers,

 

Ø  Indian Railways is not the ONLY government department / agency / unit , which employs CONTRACT WORKERS 


Ø  In 2019, altogether , Central Government was employing 10 LAKH contract workers 


Ø  Contract labour has estimated that there are a total of 3.6 crore contract labour  in the country and out of them 60 lacs are covered under the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 in both Central and State sphere.

 ( source : INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS & CONTRACT LABOUR IN INDIA  )


The reform carried out by the Railways is in the right direction, though it covers only 3.8 LAKH contract workers


Considering that all 3.6 CRORE contract workers are covered by the Minimum wages Act, same ( reform ) can be easily extended to all 3.6 CRORE contract workers


But then, the Minimum Wages Act applies equally to the PRIVATE SECTOR as well ( possibly employing more than 3 CRORE contract workers )


I urge you to modify / amend the Minimum Wages Act to mandate,

Ø  > All the establishments ( whether PRIVATE or PUBLIC ) must implement 

        From BAD to MAD

Ø  > This must be effective from 01 April 2022

Ø >  For those establishments which fail to implement, wages paid ( to contract

       workers ) shall not be considered / counted as “ Legitimate / Deductible “

       Business Expenses in their annual TAX RETURNS


With regards,

Hemen Parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com / 12 March 2021

 

 

 

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