Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - India (Ratification: 1949)

Referring to its observation, the Committee wishes to raise the following additional points.

Article 5(a) of the Convention. Cooperation between the labour inspection services and other government services. The Committee notes the reiterated information provided by the Government on the functions of area officers, for example, senior officers of the Ministry of Labour and Employment who are entrusted with overseeing the implementation of labour laws in the states. Noting that the Government has not provided a reply in this regard, the Committee once again requests the Government to specify whether area officers collaborate with labour inspectors and the manner in which they do so, and to indicate the results and impact of their activities.

Article 5(b). Collaboration of the labour inspection services with employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Committee notes the reiterated information by the Government as to the bodies for tripartite consultation at the national and state levels, as well as the examples provided by the Government on the collaboration of the labour inspectorate with trade unions and workers’ representatives in the major port areas of the country. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the consultations held with the social partners concerning labour inspection issues at the national and state levels, and, in particular, on the consultation of the social partners in the framework of the current legislative reforms, in so far as they concern labour inspection.

Articles 20 and 21. Annual report on the work of the labour inspection services. The Committee notes the statistical information provided by the Government on the number of labour inspections, number of violations detected, number of proceedings initiated, and number of convictions in relation to the supervision of a number of laws. The Government also reiterates that data on labour inspection activities are published in the annual report of the Ministry and that the process of sending the relevant reports and documents to the ILO will continue.

The Committee previously noted the proposed amendments to the labour laws (Exemption from Furnishing Returns and Maintaining Registers by Certain Establishments) Act, 1988, which would reduce its scope of application (and the requirements to maintain registers and returns). While the Act excluded establishments employing less than 19 persons, these amendments would limit the scope of application to establishments employing less than 500 persons. In this respect, the Committee emphasized that any legislative amendment aimed at reducing the number of registers must not have a negative impact on the level of data collected under the current system, in order to allow for the elaboration of accurate impact analyses and needs assessments in relation to human resources and material means, with a view to the progressive improvement of the functioning of the labour inspection system. It noted, however, that the envisaged computerization of registers as proposed in the amendments, which, according to the Government, should enable the electronic transmission of annual reports, were to be welcomed. In this regard, the Committee also notes from information in a publication of the Ministry of Labour and Employment that the Government plans to introduce a system, in which all labour inspectors are required to upload their inspection reports within 72 hours following the inspection visits carried out. Noting that the Government has not provided a reply in this regard, the Committee once again requests the Government to provide information on any development in relation to the envisaged legislative amendments and once again expresses the hope that the Government will take the necessary measures to ensure that the central authority publishes, in the very near future, an annual report on labour inspection activities containing all the data required by Article 21.

[The Government is asked to reply in detail to the present comments in 2015.]