CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court on Tuesday directed the Odisha government to ensure more unorganised workers in the state are covered under Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act (UWSSA), 2008.The court was hearing a PIL filed by Odisha State Legal Services Authority (OSLSA) seeking its intervention for ensuring more unorganised workers benefit from the Act.
The division bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice Gourishankar Satapathy said, “On the suggestions of the counsels for the parties in the course of hearing, a direction is issued to the chief secretary of Government of Odisha to convene a meeting of senior officials of the concerned department who are involved in the implementation of the legislation with secretary OSLSA, the counsel of OSLSA and representatives of at least three civil society groups working for and among unorganised labour.”
The court issued the direction after OSLSA’s counsel Mrinalini Padhi submitted a note indicating that the number of registered unorganised workers in the state from 2015 onwards is officially stated to be only 3,20,000. This seems to be low, Padhi stated.
The bench said, “The first meeting be held in the next 30 days to work out the modalities for increasing the coverage of the Act and the whole range of unorganised labour irrespective of gender, age and state of origin who may be working at any given point of time of the year in Odisha.”
While fixing July 6 for further consideration of the matter, the bench directed the chief secretary to provide updated details on issuance of social security identity cards (SSIC) and disbursal of benefits in the affidavit to be filed by the date.
In her note, Padhi had pointed out that 1.27 crore SSICs were to be issued to beneficiaries in the first phase. It is officially stated that benefits worth Rs 2.70 crore have been disbursed to 270 beneficiaries, but no clear details are available, the OSLSA counsel pointed out.