Looking to create an environment conducive to industrial development while also ensuring transparency in the labour sector, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch a host of schemes on Thursday which envisage, among others, portable PF accounts and a unified portal for labour inspection at firms.
Modi will be inaugurating the ‘Pt Deendayal Upadhyay Shramev Jayate Karyakram’ organised by the Labour Ministry in New Delhi on Thursday which will feature a day-long conference of labour, employment, health and vocational training ministers of the various state governments.
Labour Ministry officials said that the initiatives which are to be launched are a Unified Labour Portal or ‘Shram Suvidha’, a transparent and accountable Labour Inspection Scheme, and portability through Universal Account Number (UAN) for Employees’ Provident Fund members. Also, to be flagged off is an Apprentice Protsahan Yojana.
The revamped Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) for workers in the unorganised sector will also be launched on the occasion.
The UAN will allow collation of accounts and viewing of updated PF accounts. The UAN would be portable throughout the working careers of members and can be used anywhere in India.
Thus, workers in the organised sector would not need to apply for a transfer of their PF account claim on changing jobs.
Bulk SMSes will be sent across India as part of the programme, the ministry said in a statement here.
“While about One crore EPFO subscribers will get SMSes regarding portability through UAN, about 6.50 lakh establishments and 1,800 inspecting officers will get SMSes about Unified Labour Portal which will (make for) a transparent and accountable Labour Inspection Scheme,” the ministry said.
Under the new Labour Inspection scheme, labour inspectors will get auto-generated lists telling them where to go for inspection. Ministry officials said that the inspectors have to upload their reports on to the portal within 72 hours of carrying out an inspection.
