Govt. approves labour policy draft

Thiruvananthapuram: Salary of employees will be disbursed solely via bank accounts and the Government will form a Labour Intelligence Cell to make investigations stringent, says a draft of state labour policy approved by the Government on Wednesday.

Minimum wages will be ensured to all sections of employees. Minimum wages will be fixed as Rs. 600 after examining job conditions and wage system of different sectors. Efforts will be taken to discourage flash strikes.

The draft underscores that the employment sector will be made women-friendly and gender neutrality will be ensured. A law will be implemented to regulate wage and service conditions of teaching and non-teaching staff in unaided educational institutions.

Government envisages that the policy will strengthen the employer-employee relationship. Social and financial security of the self-employed and unorganised sectors will be ensured.

Major proposals in the draft policy:

Mandatory seating facility

Maternity leave along with salary for women employees

Provision for mothers to feed their babies at workplaces

Creche Cess for institutions where women are employed

Headload workers' registration will be made Aadhaar based

Comprehensive health policy cover for plantation labourersOwn Home for homeless plantation workers

Employability centres at district employment exchanges

Job portals to inform about educational institutions, training centres and job opportunities in India and abroad

Extension of ESI scheme to cover employees in revenue villages

New ITI for blocks

Aviation academy with the help of KIIFB