Mandatory social welfare benefits, implemented by the government through different schemes, for workers are yet to reach all, across industrial sectors, in the western region.
One reason is the lack of awareness about the benefits that the workers and their family members get through some of these schemes, say officials here.
For instance, through the ESI scheme, children of the workers have reservations in admission to medical colleges of ESI.
The beneficiaries can get claims in case of accidents. Women workers are eligible for six months maternity leave. Under ESIC, maternity benefit rate is 100% of average daily wages.
Though the ESI scheme is primarily for those employed in factories and commercial establishments, States such as Tamil Nadu agreed to extend the scheme to those working in private medical institutions and educational institutions too. These are two segments where women employment is more and they will benefit, the officials point out.
However, sources in textile mills point out that though it is one of the sectors that employs a large number of women, most of them leave work after three years. Many of the mills now want to have more number of permanent workers, yet the workers do not want it. Majority of the migrant workers change jobs every 10 months or so.
And, they move from one State to another. The attrition rate is almost 50 % in the mills and this make it difficult to take the social welfare schemes to all the workers, the sources say.
