Karnataka > Social Welfare Measures of Karnataka
In addition to education and health care, many welfare activities are undertaken by the State. Welfare of labour, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes, women and children, the disabled and other weaker sections are concerns of Welfare State. Besides, the Government, various voluntary organisations and agencies have also come forward in fulfilling the task. Some of the major activities and programmes taken up in this direction are highlighted here.
Labour Welfare
The Labour Department headed by the Labour Commissioner is functioning with its head office in Bangalore. The Labour Commissioner is assisted at the Head Quarters by the Additional Labour Commissioner, two Joint Labour Commissioners and other Officers. There are five Regional officers of whom, two are in Bangalore and one each at Hassan, Belgaum and Grulbarga. There are 11 Divisional offices, 39 Sub-divisional offices at the District level, seven Labour Officers Exclusively for Child Labour, 63 Circle Offices comming under the municipal corporation and 164 Circle offices at taluk level. The main functions of this department are: - Prevention of strikes, lock-outs, settlement of industrial disputes and maintenance of industrial peace and harmony in the State.
- Administration and enforcement of various Central and State Labour laws and rules framed there under.
- Fixing minimum wages at regular intervals for various scheduled employments under the Minimum Wages Act.
- Popularisation of Worker's Education Scheme and enforcement of recreational activities among workers through welfare centres of the Labour Welfare Board.
- Implementation of the recommendations of the various Wage Boards and other Tripartite Bodies.
- Implementation of International Labour Organisation conventions ratified by the Government of India.
- Extending the benefit of welfare provisions of the various Labour Legislations and bringing about improvement in working conditions.
- Ensuring minimum wages to unorganised categories of workers in agricultural and other scheduled employments as per the minimum wages Act.
During the year 1999-2000, there were twenty three strikes and seven lock-outs involving 6,721 workers in the State. As per the Industrial dispute Act 1947, 334 cases were settled. 152 were withdrawn and 843 were pending at the end of December 1999. The number of applications received as per the Worker's Compensation Act 1923, were 3,655, the number of claims settled were 2,580 and as per the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946, the number of establishments certified were 2,277.
Employees State Insurance Scheme was introduced in the year 1952 in accordance with the E.S.I Act 1948 and rules thereunder. Initially, this scheme was covering non-seasonal factories employing 20 or more workers and those who were drawing wages upto the maximum ofRs. 400 per month. Since January 1997, the wage limit was raised to Rs. 6,500 per month and the Act also has been amended to cover factories not using power with 20 or more persons and shops and business establishments, hotels, cinema homes and such other establishments employing 20 or more persons. The ESI Scheme provides mainly six benefits, namely; 1) Medical benefit in kind 2) Sickness benefit, 3) Maternity benefit 4) Disablement benefit 5) Dependents Benefit and 6) Funeral Benefit, all in cash. The medical benefits are extended to persons insured as well as to their families. The E.S.I. Scheme in Karnataka was first implemented in Bangalore on 27-7-1958 with 12 dispensaries and one 100-bedded hospitals for 48,000 in patients. Since then, the scheme was expanded rapidly and is now providing full medical care to about 7,73,000 insured persons. Karnataka is the first State in the country to extend full medical care to families of insured persons. During 1999-2000, the State has provided full medical care to about 5 lakh families units covering 40 lakhs beneficiaries in the state. During 19992000 there were 9 E.S.I. Hospitals, 129 full time and seven part-time dispensaries, nine Ayurvedic dispensaries, 12 Employer facility dispensaries and one diagnostic centre.
In order to create awareness in the minds of both management and workers about safety, health and welfare while working in factories, the Department of factories and Boilers headed by the Chief Inspector of Factories and Boilers is functioning in the State. The Department is entrusted with the responsibilities of enforcing the following Acts and rules thereunder: a) The Indian Boilers Act, 1923, b) The Payment of Wages Act, 1936, c) the Factories Act, 1948, d) The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 and the Dangerous Machines (Regulation) Act, 1983. The Department ensures a safe working environment for about 8.98 lakh workers employed in about 5,978 registered factories exposed to dangerous operations. It conducts inspection of 2,355 registered boilers, as per specifications prescribed in the Indian Boilers Regulations Act, 1950, and certifies their safety.
Trade Union Movement: Though Karnataka has a number of modern industrial units by the close of the First World War, labour was not organised in the State till then. The Railway workers had organised themselves at Hubli and Mysore in 1920s. The Trade Unions Act that was passed in 1926 at the Centre. But this Act was not extended to erstwhile Mysore till 1941. As a result Trade Unions in erstwhile Mysore, were registered as charitable institutions. The first labour union was organised by Congressmen in Bangalore. The early leaders were A.M.Ramsharma, a Journalist, and K.T.Bhasyam who organised the Binny Mill workers in the 1920s. The Binny Mill firing of 1926 in which some persons were killed, resulted in the Congress conducting an enquiry by appointing a private Commission headed by C.V.Narasimha Murthy. This incident helped to strengthen the morale of the workers. The Raja and Minerva Mill workers were also organised by the congress leaders. In 1929, Bangalore Textile Trade Union was founded and it became powerful. By 1938 it had acquired strength for compelling the State government to intervene on behalf of the Management Act similar to the Central Act 1926 was passed in 1941.
Trade Union Movement was strong in many other districts of the state, like Gokak Falls, Hubli and Mangalore. In 1929, the Mysore Railway Men's Association was established under the Presidentship of M.Venkatakrishnaiah. During 1930s, V.V.Giri, General Secretary of All-India Railwaymen's Federation visited the state to strengthen trade union movement.
In Belgaum district, the trade union movement was militated even before the passing of the Trade Union Act 1926. some of the earliest trade unions as per the available sources were Presidency Postmen's and Lower Grade Staff Union (1918), the Belgaum Divisional Postal Union (1920), and the Belgaum district Postmen's and Lower Grade Staff Union (1925).
In Mangalore the tile and cashewnut workers and Beedi workers had also organised themselves in 1937, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya being one of the leaders. The Bharat Mills of Hubli and Gokak Mills of Gokak Falls organised such similar trade unions prior to the second world war.
The textile worker's long strike in Bangalore in 1940 forced the Mysore Government to recognise labour unions by an Act of 1941. The trade unions all over struck work for many days to support the Quit India Movement in 1942. Upto 1940, labour movement was more or less confined to textile industry. In the engineering industry which constitutes the second largest sector of the State, the movement emerged only after the Second World War.
The Hindustan Aircraft Employees Union was founded in 1946. An employee of HAL who organised labour was dismissed in 1951. The Union was received by outside leadership in 1954. This pattern was followed in other units and gradually the Trade Unions in the Industries admitted outside leadership.
The Trade Union Movement was gradually becoming stronger in its membership and also in the number of unions year by year. By the end of 1980, there were 1,636 trade unions which incresed to 3,905 in 1999.
There are 4 Industrial Tribunals functioning in the state, two at Bangalore, and one each at Hubli and Mysore. There are 12 Labour Courts, 4 at Bangalore, two at Hubli, one each at Mangalore, Mysore, Chikmagalur, Gulbarga, Bijapur and Madikeri. Related tags on Social Welfare Measure Welfare of SCs and STs
Women and Child Welfare
Welfare of the Disabled Population
Other Welfare Schemes
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