Ensure social security benefits to staff: Centre to states

NEW DELHI: Concerned over violation of social security rights, the Centre has asked states and UTs to ensure all benefits to outsourced staff in government departments, PSUs and state cooperatives.

Labour and Employment Minister Bandaru Dattatraya has "urged all the chief ministers and LGs to ensure compliance regarding social security coverage of outsourced staff working in government departments as well as other public sector undertakings, state cooperatives and other bodies", an official statement said today.

Chief Secretaries and Labour Secretaries of respective states have been asked to hold a meeting of all departments and other public sector institutions in this regard so that every employee gets social security benefit, it said.

The National Human Rights Commission is also monitoring the implementation as "the social security is considered as a human right of an individual".

Various departments, public sector undertakings, state cooperatives and other state-run bodies are increasingly employing a large number of staff on an outsourcing basis.

The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation has reported that a significant number of such employees are "not" getting any social security benefit, the Minister said.

Neither such employees are covered by the General Provident Fund Scheme of the states or the Centre nor the Employees' Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952, he added.

"This is violation of the social security rights of such employees," the Minister said.

The Central Provident Fund Commissioner will also be getting in touch with the Chief Secretaries in this regard.