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Rain of sops for the aam aadmi, with elections in the air

	October 08, 2007

With elections in the air, the UPA Government is coming out with a slew of measures to benefit the aam aadmi (common man). At the start of the week, the Union Cabinet cleared on Monday, Oct. 1, amendments to the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965, to bring more workers into the bonus fold, extending the law to a part of the unorganised sector by including those involved in construc¬tion.



The Cabinet also decided that industrial workers with sala¬ries upto Rs. 10,000 will be eligible for bonus.



The twin changes, part of the Centre’s aam aadmi initia¬tivewith an eye on early polls, will have far-reaching implica¬tions for the private sector since it will raise wage bills. “We salute the working class,” Priya Ranjan Das Munshi, the minister who briefed reporters after the cabinet meeting, said.



Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes, also present at the an¬nouncement, said the decision to increase the salary ceiling will benefit workers in the organised sector - government and private companies. They make up around seven per cent of the country’s total labour force.



The industry was consulted on the increase in the salary cap, Fernandes said, but the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) said it had only agreed to an upper limit of Rs 7,500, not Rs 10,000.



On construction workers, the problem lies in lack of data. Government estimates put the number at 1.8 crore but it is diffi¬cult to put a number on the beneficiaries.



The Cabinet also cleared a health insurance scheme for unorganised sector workers below the poverty line.



The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna will cover medical expens¬es up to Rs 30,000 annually. The Centre will contribute 75 per cent of the premium and the states the remaining 25 per cent. The beneficiaries will only be required to pay a renewal and regis¬tration fee of Rs 30 each year.



In a move to woo farmers, the government plans to hike the price of wheat purchased directly from farmers by Rs 350 a quin¬tal while giving paddy-growers a raise of Rs 64.



The proposal, loaded against the south and the east (both paddy-growing regions) and favouring the north (known for its wheat bowls), has been made in a note circulated to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.



Food Ministry officials said leaders from Andhra Pradesh had cried foul at the apparent bias. “The wheat price is being raised partly because of pressure from Punjab and Haryana politicians,” an official said.



Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S.R. Reddy has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking for paddy prices on a par with that of wheat from this winter. He said the current dif¬ference was “highly discriminatory”.



In a move that is sure to needle the Left parties, the UPA government decided to give constitutional validity to the Dar¬jeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) in West Bengal.



After keeping the agreement for the move in abeyance for around two years, the Congress-led UPA government decided to give the council and its leader Subhas Ghising their due.



The decision, once ratified by Parliament with a two-thirds majority, will give more land and power to the council, which will also get the right to pass laws bypassing the state govern¬ment.



This is likely to cause heartburn to the West Bengal govern¬ment. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was vehemently opposed to the proposal, but both the Centre and the state had to surrender to Ghising’s demands in 2005.





Minorities schemes put on fast track



The UPA government has decided to rush through a development scheme to improve the lot of the minorities. It is also laying down a tight timeframe to ensure that the projects are up and running in three years.



The Minority Affairs Ministry has sought the Expenditure Finance Committee’s approval to spend Rs. 3,780 crore on a multi-sectoral development plan to improve the lot of backward minori¬ties in 90 identified districts.



“It is proposed to implement the multi-sectoral development plans for minority concentration districts with the objective of completing them during the Eleventh Plan Period. Each project is expected to be completed within three years of commencement,” the proposal said.



The minimum funding on improving socio-economic conditions and basic amenities in each of the 90 identified districts would be Rs. 15 crore, but the maximum that could be spent on tangible infrastructure is limited to Rs. 10 crore. “Investment for infrastructure shall normally not exceed 50 per cent of the district’s share of funds,” it said.



For a good measure, the Ministry has suggested that all projects should be given wide publicity in the local media. The district administration would need to display at project site the date of sanction, completion and estimated cost.



The CPI(M) which asked for a declaration of a sub-plan for the minorities with specific allocations after its three-day Cen¬tral Committee meeting in Kolkata, should not be complaining, observers say.





Old scheme, new hat



Not all the welfare schemes the Centre is raining on the aam aadmi deliver something new. The aam aadmi Bima Yojna is, with small modifications, the existing Janshree Bima Yojana by another name.



Both the schemes provide life and disability cover to below poverty line families, and the benefits and premium are virtually the same. The new scheme was launched on Oct. 2, by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram.



Under the new scheme, the head of the family, or an earning member, aged between 18 and 59 years, would be insured against natural or accidental death and partial or permanent disability. The Centre will pay half of the annual premium of Rs. 200 per person and the states the rest.



Janshree too, offered death and disability cover to heads of families under Below Poverty Line. The annual premium too, was Rs. 200 and the Centre’s contribution 50 per cent.