Govt comes to the rescue of citys textile mill workers……Dhaval Kulkarni
Its mandatory for commercial ventures on mill lands to give priority to workers, dependants in jobs
Its mandatory for commercial ventures on mill lands to give priority to workers, dependants in jobs
In what may come as a welcome step for the workers of the now defunct textile mills of Mumbai, the state government has made it mandatory for the commercial ventures coming up on the mill lands opened up for redevelopment to give priority to the mill workers and their dependants in jobs.
A notification issued by the state urban development department on September 26 states that recruitment to these diversified industries/ developments on mill lands shall be done only from the names recommended by the employment exchange which is to be specially created for the eligible mill workers by the department of employment and self-employment.
The mill owners, developers and occupiers of the mill land are also required to submit the employee requirement in the development taken up to the exchange from time to time.
If the mill owner/ developer/ occupier feels that before employing the selected eligible mill worker/ dependant, it is necessary to impart training in the relevant vocation, he shall arrange such training and shall finance such training. After successful completion of which the mill worker shall be absorbed in the employment for which he has been selected, it added. Any dispute in this regard is to be referred to the monitoring committee set up for the purpose, with its decision being binding.
The Bombay High Court on a PIL filed by the Girni Kamgar Karmachari and Kalyankari Sangh had directed the principal secretary, department of urban development, Maharashtra government, to draw up a definite scheme for the workers of the mills which had been closed either for relocation or redevelopment.
T C Benjamin, principal secretary, urban development department, said that the commercial ventures coming up on the mill lands would have to give priority to the workers of that mill itself or their dependants, and in case a suitable candidate was not arrived at, then candidates from other mills could be approached. In case a suitable candidate was still not shortlisted, then the monitoring committee set up for the purpose would have to be satisfied before recruiting other candidates. The workers on the rolls of these mills as on January 1, 2000 would be eligible for these jobs.
Datta Iswalkar of the Girni Kamgar Sangharsh Samiti welcomed the decision and but added that it was necessary to create a mechanism to monitor whether the rules for employment of the mill workers and their family members were followed.
Details of the educational qualifications of the workers, recovery of their financial dues, need for employment and training and the names of family members with their qualifications and experience have been sought from workers and unions through a public notice.
According to the proposed scheme to be implemented in a time-bound manner, the labour commissioner is to scrutinise by October 5 the information received from the workers and unions in response to the public notice and verify the eligibility of the mill workers and their dependants from the concerned mill owners by October 20.
The draft final list of eligible mill workers is to be prepared by November 5, and it is to be published by December 5 with a one month period for submitting objections. The final list will be prepared after the verification and will be submitted to the secretary of the department of employment and self-employment by February 5, 2009.