District Labour Officer P.J. Joy has said that social security programmes like the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY) under the labour department are now being implemented in more areas.
Addressing a press conference to announce the achievements of the district labour department in the last four years to mark the fourth anniversary of the State government, Mr. Joy said that peace could be maintained in the district's labour scene by improving employer-employee relations.
About 87,000 families were made members under the RSBY programme during the last year. While the government had paid Rs. 2.31 crore as premium during the period, the insurance company gave Rs. 4.52 crore for treatment. Treatment facilities under the programme were available in 26 private hospitals and 10 government hospitals in the district. Mr. Joy said that efforts were on to bring all the workers in selected welfare boards under the programme.
While new pension schemes were launched, the State government enhanced the pension under existing schemes. Pension scheme for workers in the unorganised sector was introduced in 2008. Monthly pension of Rs. 200 each was being paid to 149 persons who had attained the age of 60 years and had worked in various unorganised sectors.
Pension for agriculture workers had been enhanced to Rs. 250. All pensions outstanding till last March had been cleared through local self-government bodies in the district.
