BMS Rejects the Latest Draft Social Security Code

         The latest 4th draft on Social Security Code, 2019 is totally disappointing for the workers in the
country, said BMS comments that submitted to Labour Ministry today. The BMS comments contained detailed clause wise comments and objections to the draft.
          The new draft is a weak cut and paste of the existing eight social security laws with different
threshold limits for different benefits. This is contrary to the objectives of Codification. Unlike the
Wage Code, it is not universal, i.e. it did not aim the last worker to be
It creates a class division of privileged “employees”, “workers” and unfortunate “wage workers” with
different sets of benefits.
          The first draft contained highly beneficial provisions like providing the right to social secur
last worker having access to nearly 14 social security benefits, constituting a Central apex Council
that is headed by none other than the Prime Minister himself,
every local body level to assist workers in security cadre, assuring that wage for the purpose of calculation will not be less than minimum wages, benefits continuing even after retirement, providing a separate fund for gratuity etc. They all missing.
          BMS demanded that the eligibility for gratuity should be reduced from 5 years to 1 year in view of up to 80% of workers engaged in many organised sector units being contract labour.
          The intention of the whole exercise gets tainted in the EPS to NPS. There is no health insurance in the whole world which is comparable to ESI in terms of benefits and also running profitably without Government assistance. EPFO itself has come out with a study that EPS is more beneficial to the workers compared to NPS.
          Most of the powers under the Code are arbitrarily retained for executive decisions including power to exempt the law to establishments or arbitrarily reducing the rate of contribution to the social security funds. The Government share of 1.16% in EPS has been withdrawn. Flaws in the existing socialsecurity laws raised by trade unions are not at all taken care of in the code.
Inducting private players in implementing schemes and running ESI medical co
also objectionable. On many benefits, the employer is made personally liable; which should be
replaced by social insurance but not commercial insurance. Many allowances are exempted from the
definition of wages, which will encourage EPF fund.
The government should understand that it is changing the main Social security laws like ESI and EPF
shaped by none other than a great visionary like Dr Ambedkar. It should not miss th
shaping the destiny of the nation by its casual approach. Hence BMS totally rejects the 4th draft and
requests the Government to reconsider and modify the second draft considering the objections and
suggestions made by BMS to it to benefit the workers.

(C.K.Saji Narayanan)
National President