BONUS CEILING DEBATE IN PARLIAMENT – LOK SABHA
SHRI C. KUPPUSAMI: I thank the Government for bringing the construction employees under the ambit of Payment of Bonus Act. Workers in the building construction industry are involved in arduous work. Considering the nature of their work, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Dr. Kalaignar Karunanidhi has brought many welfare schemes for them.
There is one point which I would like to bring to the notice of the hon'ble Labour Minister that we have been demanding that the bonus eligibility limit may be increased as in case of other employees like Railway employees, postal employees, and calculation limit for bonus may also be increased in their case. In this connection, I had raised this important matter under Rule 377 on 19 th November 2007 on the floor of this House to increase the eligibility limit of workers for bonus from Rs. 3500 to Rs. 10,000, and to increase the bonus calculation limit from Rs. 2500 to Rs. 3500 to the Central Government employees like Railway employees, Postal Employees as they are not going to benefit by this amendment. I would request the Government and the Labour Minister to notify the scheme for increasing the bonus eligibility limit and calculation limit for the Central Government
SHRI P. RAJENDRAN : The Ordinance to amend the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 was issued on 27th October, 2007. The amendment shall be deemed to have come into force on the 1 st day of April, 2006 raising the bonus ceiling from Rs. 2,500 to Rs. 3,500 from the year 2006-07. The Central Government employees have been persistently demanding for enhancement
SHRI OSCAR FERNANDES replying said: We have a tripartite mechanism through which we operate. The second Labour Commission recommended Rs. 7500 as the ceiling through negotiations, yet we were able to raised it to Rs. 10,000. Credit goes to both the employees and the employers that we arrived at a figure of Rs. 10,000. This is in keeping with the rise in prices.
I agree with the Members that we can have a very comprehensive discussion on this and take a view that considering the present scenario and environment what should be the bonus, how it should be paid and who should be covered. Most of the Members have said that the whole benefit has flown only to the organized sector workers. We have extended it to the construction workers. In the agricultural field, a worker goes and works with a farmer for about a month. Similarly, in other industries, you cannot identify a worker with an employer because he is employed on a temporary basis. Definitely, if there is a means for us to find out the relationship between an employer and an employee for a certain period where a worker is eligible, we have no difficulty in making this applicable-the Bonus Act- to the workers. Otherwise, we pass this Act, the money does not go to the workers as Members, have raised apprehensions.
I will go into each and every point that they have raised and we will try to find solutions to the problems being faced by workers in our country. With these words, I commend to the House that the Bill may be passed.
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K.Ragavendran
Secretary General NFPE
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