Deccan Herald 05.12.2013
Perks for daily wage workers, but no promotion
There is some good news and bad news for around
23,000 daily wage employees who have been brought under the ambit of
legislation to provide them with better benefits and wages earlier this
year.
The good news first. The government has come out
with the draft of the Karnataka Daily Wage Employees Welfare Rules –
2013, specifying the leave, pension and gratuity benefits to these
employees working in various government departments.
At the same
time, it has proposed that these employees will not be eligible for
promotion for the rest of their service. In other words, all the 23,000
employees will remain in the same cadre they find themselves today till
they retire. The draft rules were notified by the Department of
Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR) Secretariat on November 30.
The
Karnataka Daily Wage Employees Welfare Bill, 2012, was passed during
the winter session of the State Legislature in Belgaum last December and
had got the assent of the Governor in February this year.
The legislation provided
for better welfare of daily wage employees working for more than 10
years in government establishments and to give them minimum security of
tenure, better wages and social security on retirement. The Act provided
that the pay of a daily wage employee will be the minimum of the time
scales.
As per the draft rules notified on Saturday, the
New Pension Scheme (NPS) Swavalamban Yojana administered by the Pension
Fund Regulatory and Development Authority will be applicable to daily
wage employees. The gratuity benefit on retirement has been fixed for a
maximum of 12 months’ pay. “A daily wage employee shall be paid after
completion of 60 years of age an ex gratia of 15 days’ pay for every
completed year of service subject to a maximum of 12 months’ pay,” the
draft rules states. The employees will also be entitled to maternity
leave of 180 days.
Why no promotion?
Sources in Department
of Personnel and Administrative Reforms said that while daily wage
employees would get better emoluments, they were not considered for
promotion as technically they are not regular government employees.
“The
Karnataka Daily Wage Employees Welfare Act only provides for providing
better wages and social security. But, it does not provide for
regularisation of their services and give them the position of regular
government employees. Hence, they are not eligible for promotions,” the
sources said.
Daily wage workers who have been working since July
1, 1984, and those who have completed 10 years of service as on April
10, 2006, have been brought under the ambit of the Act. These include
around 17,000 serving in 24 government departments and another 6,000
employed in urban local bodies and corporations.