Commissioner Secretary, Labour and Employment, Saurabh Bhagat, today ordered a cross-verified survey of the commercial establishments registered with the department for effective implementation of labour laws and better revenue realization.“A fresh survey attested by Assistant Labour Commissioners will be carried out to determine the actual number of commercial establishments registered with the department. Once the numbers are obtained, they should be cross-verified the PDD bills or GST numbers available with the Commercial Tax department,” Bhagat said.He ordered the officers to complete the entire exercise in three months, “The Department will put an effective monitoring and punitive mechanism in place to deal with the offenders,” he said.Bhagat was chairing a meeting at the Banquet Hall here to review the functioning of the department days after taking over the charge. The meeting was also attended by Labour Commissioner, Bashir Ahmad Khan, Director Labour Department and CEO of Labour Board.The Commissioner Secretary sought details about the vacancies in the Department which he said will be filled up soon after getting consent of concerned authorities for smooth functioning of the department. He was informed that the Department is involved in enforcement of 29 labour laws which include both central and state laws.
Expressing dissatisfaction with some areas of functioning of the Department, Bhagat said the slow pace of disposal of cases reflects poorly not only on the government but also in the Annual Performance Report of the officers. “There should be no compromise on speedy disposal of cases,” he said, adding that the Department will have a system for rewarding officers who perform better in their service.Bhagat also expressed dissatisfaction over the delay in finalization of online portal for commercial establishments which will link them with the Labour Department by the way of various services under Labour Laws like registration of factories and shops, etc.Regretting the absence of law officers in the Department, Bhagat said he will take up the matter with the Law Department to ensure that at least one law officer each is posted in Jammu and Kashmir regions, “The department must pursue litigations in courts aggressively and ensure their prompt disposal,” he said while reviewing pendency of court cases.The Commissioner Secretary was informed about some interventions required for increasing the revenue realisation by the Department. He said except for cases where land or a building owned by Labour Department has been transferred through a cabinet order, rental will be sought from other departments.“The assistant labour commissioner will prepare a list of such properties, including land and buildings occupied by other departments, and share it with Labour Commissioner after which it will be taken up with the concerned authorities,” he said.
Bhagat urged the officers to undertake field visits aggressively to ensure enforcement of labour laws and also to eradicate the menace of child labour in Jammu and Kashmir. The Commissioner Secretary also reviewed the steps taken for construction of ESIC Model Hospital at Shalteng by relocating Model Hospital at Ompora Budgam and issues related to Employees Provident Fund Organisation.He directed the officers to make all-out efforts for highlighting various schemes of the government for labourers, “All ALCs are directed to revisit the commercial centres registered with the department and check whether the data provided by the employers is correct. This process of validation will ensure that the benefits of welfare schemes reach to all sections of labourers without any pilferage,” he said.Bhagat also called for aggressively pursuing the issue of recovery of Provident Fund contribution and administrative charges from the defaulting PSUs and private sectors.While reviewing the functioning of J&K Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, the Commissioner Secretary asked the officers to provide chip-based digital cards to over three lakh workers registered with it while calling for digitization of labour records. The meeting was also attended by senior officers of the department.