11-07-2012, 02:26 PM
CENTRAL INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS MACHINERY
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE :
1. The Organization of the Chief Labour Commissioner ©) known as Central Industrial Relations Machinery was set up in April, 1945 in pursuance of the recommendation of the Royal Commission on Labour in India and was then charged mainly with duties of prevention and settlement of industrial disputes, enforcement of labour laws and to promote welfare of workers in the undertakings falling within the sphere of the Central Government. Combining the former organizations of the Conciliation Officer (Railways) and Supervisor of Railway Labour and the Labour Welfare Advisor, it started with a small complement of staff comprising Chief Labour Commissioner ©) at New Delhi, 3 Regional Labour Commissioners at Bombay, Calcutta & Lahore and 8 Conciliation Officer and increased gradually consequent upon expanding labour legislation's in the Post-independence period, increased industrial activity in the country and growing responsibilities of the Organization.
Presently there are 20 regions each headed by a Regional Labour Commissioner © with Headquarters at Ajmer , Ahmadabad, Asansol, Bangalore, Bombay, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Cochin, Calcutta, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jabalpur, Madras, New Delhi, Patna, Nagpur, Dhanbad, Dehradun, Raipur and Kanpur. Out of these, 14 regions have been placed under the supervision of three zonal Dy.CLCs© and 4 regional offices are supervised directly by Headquarters office of CLC©.
2. BROAD STRUCTURE OF THE ORGANISATION:
CIRM is headed by the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central)[ CLC © ]. It is entrusted with the task of maintaining good industrial relations in the Central sphere. At the headquarters, CIRM has a complement of 25 officers who perform line and staff functions. In the field, the machinery has a complement of 253 officers and their establishments are spread over different parts of the country with zonal, regional and unit level formations as presented in the organogram.
SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS OF CIRM
The CIRM administers the Labour Laws in the industries for which the Central Govt. is the `appropriate Government' under that Act. Its functions therefore are:
* Prevention and settlement of industrial disputes;
* Enforcement of Labour Laws;
* Verification of membership of Trade Unions;
* Enforcement of Awards and Settlements;
* Conduct of inquiries into the breaches of Code of Discipline;
* Promotion of Works Committees and Workers' Participation in Management;
* Collection of statistical information;
ENFORCEMENT OF LABOUR LAWS
The Labour Enforcement Officers (Central) function basically as Inspectors under various enactments. The other officers of the Organization from the level of ALC © up to the level of CLC © have also been vested with the powers of Inspectors, under various labour laws where they have not to perform quasi-judicial functions.
The CIRM Officers carry out regular inspections under various labour laws. Besides the regular inspections, the officers of CIRM focus special attention on the enforcement of beneficial labour legislation's and carry out special drives of inspections known as Crash Programs & Task Force inspections.
PAYMENT OF WAGES Act 1936.
The Central Government is the Appropriate Government under the Act in respect of the establishments of Railways, Mines/oil-fields, Air Transport and major ports. Employers cannot withhold wages earned by workers nor can they make any unauthorized deduction. Payment must be made before expiry of a specified day after the last day of the wage period. Fines can be imposed for only those acts or omissions, which have been approved by an appropriate authority and must not exceed an amount equal to three per cent of wages payable. If payment of wages is delayed or wrongful deductions are made, workers or their trade unions can file a claim.