<b>XI LOK SABHA DEBATES, <i> Session IV (Budget) </i> </b> XI LOK SABHA DEBATES, Session IV (Budget) Friday, February 21, 1997 / Phalguna 2, 1918 (Saka)
Type of Debate: GOVERNMENT BILLS
Title: Seamen's Provident Fund (Amendment) Bill.(Concluded) Motion for Consideration TEXT : 1453 hoursMR. CHAIRMAN: Now, we take up item number 11. Shri G. Venkatraman Tindivanam may move the motion for consideration of the Seamen's Provident Fund (Amendment) Bill, 1996.
THE MINISTER OF SURFACE TRANSPORT (SHRI G. VENKATRAMAN TINDIVANAM): I beg to move :
"That the Bill to amend the Seamen's Provident Fund Act, 1966, as passed by Rajya Sabha, be taken into consideration."
With your permission, I would like to say a few words while moving the Seamen's Provident Fund (Amendment) Bill, 1996 for consideration and approval. The Seamen's Provident Act, 1966 inter alia provides that the Board of Trustees will administer the provident fund. The Director-General of Shipping has been appointed by the Government as Chairman of the Board of Trustees in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (3) of section 5 of the Act. The Seamen's Provident Fund Commissioner is the Chief Executive under this Act.
In the process of implementing the provisions of the Seamen's Provident Fund Act, 1966, certain difficulties have been experienced from time to time, for example, only one bank has been nominated for operation of accounts of the organisation under section 4, maximum scales of pay have been provided in section 7, the fixed rate of contribution has been indicated in section 8 etc. Besides, the Merchant Navy Officers Association have been demanding that they should also be included within the purview of this Act so that Provident Fund Scheme is also applicable to them.
The main purposes of the amendments are:-
(i) Bring certain other categories of crew such as master navigating or engineering officer etc. within the definition of `seamen,' (amendment of Section 2(1));
(ii) Allow deposit of the funds with an approved bank instead of SBI (amendment of Section 4(3));
(iii) To streamline employment of officers in the Seamen's Provident Fund Office (amendment of Section 7(2) and (4);
(iv) To lay down rate of contribution of 10 per cent or such higher rate as may be specified (amendment of Section 8);
(v) Provide for increased penalty for defaulting payments by the employers (amendment of Section 15(3) and 16(1).
In the circumstances, I move this Bill for consideration.
(ends)
MR. CHAIRMAN (SHRI P.C. CHACKO): Motion moved:
"That the Bill to amend the Seamen's Provident Fund Act, 1966, as passed by Rajya Sabha, be taken into consideration."
SHRI T. GOVINDAN (KASARGODA): Mr. Chairman, Sir, on behalf of my party, I support the Bill. It is a simple piece of legislation to improve the service and monetary conditions of seamen.
The shipping industry in our country is one of the most important areas and it is one of the most potential industries for employment also. The number of training centres has not been increased for a long time. So, I demand that the Certificate Training should be given to more people.
The shipping industry is sick now, because it has not been expanded. More seamen can be employed if our shipping companies are expanded. The Shipping Corporation of India is in no mood of expansion. They are not acquiring more ships.
Then, the Merchant Navy staff also have to be included within the purview of the Seamen's Provident Fund Act.
The suggestion of an increase in the rate of interest is also laudable.
The Government is reluctant towards the development of shipyards in India, especially in Kerala. No order for manufacturing of ships or ship repair works are assigned to the Cochin Shipyard. This attitude of negligence should be changed.
With these few words, I support the Bill.
(ends)
SHRI SAMY V. ALAGIRI (SIVAKASI): Mr. Chairman, Sir, I thank you for giving me an opportunity to participate in this discussion. I support this simple piece of legislation and it can be passed without any controversy. But I want to make a suggestion to the hon. Minister. I want to bring to the attention of the hon. Minister the condition of the country-boat seamen. There are thousands of country-boat seamen in the coastal areas of our country. They have no Provident Fund facility and their condition is pitiable. They have no support from the Government. So, I request the Government to consider their plight sympathetically and make some provision for their benefit in this amending Bill.
With these few words, I support this Bill on behalf of my party.
(ends)
MR. CHAIRMAN (SHRI P.C. CHACKO): The discussion is over. The Minister may reply now. The Minister can give a detailed explanation and reply.
(Interruptions)
MR. CHAIRMAN: I am allowing the Minister to make a long speech for half-an-hour.
1459 hours
SHRI G. VENKATRAMAN TINDIVANAM : Mr. Chairman, Sir, I am thankful to you for having given me half-an-hour. But this Bill does not require half-an-hour. I cannot waste the time of the House.
SHRI NITISH KUMAR (BARH): You can take your own time.
SHRI G. VENKATRAMAN TINDIVANAM: The subject does not require so much time to reply.
Sir, some suggestions have been made by the hon. Members regarding increasing the number of Training Institutes and also regarding improvement of the Training Institute. I would like to say that improvements are being contemplated and I will take into consideration the suggestion for improving the Training Institutes.
As far as the expansion of the Shipping Corporation of India is concerned, we have written to the Finance Minister and we are expecting a reply from him. After receiving the reply from him, the expansion will be made.
Hon. Member's suggestion regarding rate of percentage will also be taken into consideration.
The hon. Member has made some remarks regarding Cochin Shipping Yard, for which I wish to submit that there is absolutely nothing to say that I am disregarding the request. But the only problem is the funding. Funding is the only thing which is looming large so far as my Ministry is concerned. If the fund situation is satisfied, I will be able to do some good work.
Regarding Shri Samy V. Alagiri's suggestions about country boats and provident fund, etc., I may submit that they have to form an association and then they have to come to the Government. Only then it will be taken into consideration.
In the circumstances explained above, I request that the Bill be passed.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Mr. Minister, the House would like to know why the amendments have become necessary? Merely, because there were fewer speakers, you please do not confine to those points alone. You are moving some very important amendments therefore the House is interested to know the reasons.
SHRI NITISH KUMAR (BARH): You give a detailed statement.
In the process of implementing the provisions of the Act, certain difficulties have been experienced from time to time i.e., only one bank was nominated for operation of accounts of the organisation under section 4, maximum of scales of pay have been provided in section 7, the fixed rate of contribution has been indicated in section 8 and quantum of fine and duration of imprisonment have been indicated in section 16. In addition, the Merchant Navy Officers Association has been demanding that they should also be included within the purview of this Act so that Provident Fund Scheme is also applicable to them. In the existing Act, it was essential to amend the definition of seamen so that the Merchant Navy Officers are also covered in that.
As already indicated, the Merchant Navy Officers Association have been demanding that they should be included within the purview of the provident fund scheme. Section 2 (L) provides the definition of `seamen' which is reproduced as under:-
"`Seamen' means a person employed or engaged as a member of the crew of a ship under the Merchant Shipping Act 1958, but does not include a master, navigating or engineering officer, radio officer, medical officer, welfare officer, purser, electrician, nurse, musician, pilot, apprentice or deck barber;"
It is now proposed to include a master, navigating or engineering officer, radio officer, medical officer, purser, electrician and apprentice. It is proposed not to include welfare officer, nurse, musician, pilot or deck barber. The main justification for not including these officers is that they are not part of crew of the ship and as such it may not be appropriate to include them under the definition of the seaman in order to provide provident fund benefit.
Section 4 of the existing Act provides that all the money received in the fund should be deposited in the State Bank of India only. This Act was enacted in the year 1966 and at that time banks were not nationalised. In 1969, the banks were nationalised and as such it is now proposed to include all the nationalised banks (banks approved by the Government) as this will facilitate wider banking facilities to seamen.
Accordingly, it is proposed to substitute the words "approved
banks" for words 'State Bank of India" in section 4 of the Act. It is also proposed to provide an explanation (foot note) to the effect that "approved banks" means State Bank of India constituted under section 3 of the State Bank of India Act, 1955 or a subsidiary bank constituted under section 3 of the State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks) Act, 1959 or a corresponding new bank constituted under section 3 of the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970 or a Corresponding new bank constituted under section 3 of the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1980.
At present, section 7 (1) of the Act enables the Central Government to appoint a Seamen's Provident Fund Commissioner.
Further, section 7 (2) of the Act provides that the Central Government may also appoint as many Deputy Seamen's Provident Fund Commissioners on the basis of work load and other officers whose maximum monthly salary is not less than Rs. 600/-. Over the years, scales of pay have already crossed this limit of Rs. 600/- and are bound to undergo revision in future. Therefore, it is proposed to omit the mention of scales of pay in respect of appointment of such officers.
The basic intention of the Act is to provide for appointment of Commissioner, Seamen's Provident Fund, and Deputy Commissioners, Seamen's Provident Fund, by the Central Government only and other officers be appointed by the Board. Section 7 (3) of the Act also provides appointment of other officers like Accounts Officer and Administrative Officer by the Board. Therefore, it is proposed to delete the words "other officers" from section 7 (2) of the Act as the same are already covered under section 7 (3) of the Act.
Section 8 of the Act provides for rate of contribution being payable by the employer from time to time. The scheme provides for the contribution at the rate of six per cent up to 31st March, 1968 and at the rate of eight per cent thereafter upto 31st December, 1977. The rate of contribution is fixed by the Board of Trustees from time to time and the guiding factor in determination of the rate of contribution is the rate of contribution fixed by the Ministry of Labour under the Employees Provident Fund Scheme. The present rate of contribution is ten per cent. Since the percentage limit of contribution does not remain static, it is proposed to amend this section to provide for percentage of contribution to be not less than ten per cent of the wages paid with effect from 1.1.1978 so that the rate of contribution could be fixed under the administrative instructions issued from time to time depending upon the requirement, and the need to amend it may not arise in future.
Section 16(1) of the Act stipulates that any person, who knowingly makes or causes to be made any false statement or false representation with the intention of avoiding any payment to be made under the Provident Fund, shall be liable to be imprisoned upto six months or would be liable to pay a fine which may extend to Rs. 1,000/- or both. This Act was enacted in the year, 1966 and in the present context, a fine of Rs. 1,000/- has become meaningless and hardly acts as a deterrent. In order to ensure that the shipowners contribute to the scheme and do not avoid any contribution, it is proposed to amend this section so as to provide that the period of imprisonment may be enhanced to one year and the maximum leviable fine may be increased to Rs. 50,000/- or with both.
The Seamen's Provident Fund (Amendment) Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on 22.12.95 and was referred to the Standing Committee on Transport and Tourism. A meeting of the Standing Committee was held on 17.1.96 in Parliament House. Due to the fact that passenger vessels would be operating on various routes in the country as well as on international voyages, it was decided that nurses and welfare officers who would be sailing on board these passenger vessels should not stand to be excluded from the definition of Seamen. Therefore, the inclusion of nurses and welfare officers within the purview of Section 2 (c) of the Bill was required to be considered.
The Committee submitted its report to the Rajya Sabha on 28.2.96 incorporating the above. Now, the Bill is to be taken up for consideration as Seamen's Provident Fund (Amendment) Bill 1996 and passed in this Session, incorporating therein the suggestions contained in the Report of the Standing Committee on Transport and Tourism.
MR. CHAIRMAN (SHRI P.C. CHACKO): Shri V. Alagiri Samy would like to know whether some more persons could be included under the definition of `Seamen'. Shri Alagiri Samy, you can specifically say whom you are proposing to be included in this.
SHRI SAMY V. ALAGIRI (SIVAKASI): Sir, there are thousands of boatmen in our country, but they all come under unorganised labour. They are fighting against the trawler operators. These boatmen go into the sea and would not come back for ten days or fifteen days. Their families eagerly await them because they do not know when they will come back. The Government must organise these country boatmen to give provident fund facility to them. The Government must support them because the guarantee for their lives is questionable. The Government may please consider this.
SHRI G. VENKATRAMAN TINDIVANAM: I do take the suggestion of the hon. Member. But I wish to tell him that first let them form an association and then approach the Government with the Articles so that it can approve it.
MR. CHAIRMAN (SHRI P. C. CHACKO): The hon. Minister will let us know what is recommended in the Standing Committee report about this particular category of employees.
SHRI T. G. VENKATRAMAN: A country-boat, as a matter of fact, does not come within our purview, as I already submitted. With regard to the matter which the hon. Member raised, I wish to submit that the amendments have been sent to the Law Department and also to the Labour Department. They are of the view that the amendments should be carried out and none of them has been left out. After all, they are travelling but they do not form the crew of ship. That is the point they have raised. On that legal point, they said that they are not entitled. That is why, this amendment is brought.
SHRI P. NAMGYAL (LADAKH): My suggestion is to adjourn the House for 15 minutes.
MR. CHAIRMAN : No. We are serious here. Please take your seat. Do you have any doubt about the Standing Committee, Shri Subrata Mukherjee?
SHRI SUBRATA MUKHERJEE (RAIGANJ): No.
MR. CHAIRMAN : Shri P. Namgyal, do you have any doubt?
SHRI P. NAMGYAL (LADAKH): I have no doubts.
MR. CHAIRMAN : Shri Nitish Kumar, what is your doubt?
¸ÉÒ xÉÒiÉÒ¶É EòÖ¨ÉÉ®ú (¤ÉÉgø): ªÉ½þÉÆ nùÉä-iÉÒxÉ ¤ÉÉiÉäÆ Eò½þÒ MÉ<ÇÆ ½þèÆ, =xÉEòÉ EòÉä<Ç ºÉÆiÉÉä¹ÉVÉxÉEò =iiÉ®ú xɽþÒÆ +ɪÉÉ* ªÉ½þÉÆ Eò½þÉ MɪÉÉ ÊEò ºÉÒ-¨ÉèxÉ EòÉèxÉ-EòÉèxÉ ½þÉä ºÉEòiÉÉ ½þè, =ºÉEòÉ VÉ´ÉÉ¤É ºÉÆiÉÉä¹ÉVÉxÉEò xɽþÒÆ +ɪÉÉ* ÊVɺÉEòä ¤ÉÉ®úä ¨ÉäÆ ºÉ{ÉÉäÇiÉnùÉ®ú VÉÒ xÉä {ÉÚUôÉ ÊEò VÉÉä +Ænù®ú VÉÉiÉä ½þèÆ, ]ÅäÆb÷ ±Éä¤É®ú ½þèÆ, =xÉEòÒ ÊVÉÆnùMÉÒ EòÉ ¦ÉÒ ¨É½þi´É ½þè* ÊEòºÉ ¤ÉÉiÉ EòÉä ±ÉäEò®ú Ê´ÉÊvÉ ¨ÉÆjÉÉ±ÉªÉ xÉä BiÉ®úÉVÉ ÊEòªÉÉ, ÊVɺÉEòÒ =x½þÉäÆxÉä SÉSÉÉÇ EòÒ* =ºÉEòÉä +É{É ÊºÉrÉÆiÉ°ü{É ¨ÉäÆ º´ÉÒEòÉ®ú Eò®úiÉä ½þèÆ ªÉÉ xɽþÒÆ* ¨ÉÉxÉ ±ÉÒÊVÉB xɽþÒÆ Eò®úäÆMÉä iÉÉä EªÉÉ ½þÉäMÉÉ* +¦ÉÒ <ºÉ {É®ú ¤É½þºÉ ½þÉä ®ú½þÒ ½þè, {ÉÚ®úä ºÉnùºªÉ xɽþÒÆ ½þèÆ* ´Éä ±ÉÉäMÉ ¦ÉÒ xɽþÒÆ ½þèÆ ÊVÉxÉEòÉä <ºÉEòÉ ºÉɨÉxÉÉ Eò®úxÉÉ {Éc÷iÉÉ ½þè* ªÉ½þ Ê¤É±É nùںɮúä ÊnùxÉ +ÉiÉÉ iÉÉä +Éè®ú ¦ÉÒ ºÉnùºªÉ ´ªÉÊEiÉMÉiÉ +ÉvÉÉ®ú {É®ú SÉSÉÉÇ Eò®ú ºÉEòiÉä lÉä* +ÉVÉ ¶ÉÖFò´ÉÉ®ú ½þè, Eò<Ç ºÉnùºªÉ SɱÉä MÉB ½þèÆ* ½þ¨É ±ÉÉäMÉ ¦ÉÒ <ºÉºÉä ºÉÆiÉÖ¹]õ xɽþÒÆ ½þèÆ, VɤÉÊEò ½þ¨ÉÉ®úÉ EòÉäº]õ±É BÊ®úªÉÉ ºÉä ´ÉɺiÉÉ xɽþÒÆ ½þè* ±ÉäÊEòxÉ VÉÉä ¤ÉÉiÉäÆ ºÉnùxÉ Eòä +Ænù®ú +É<Ç ½þèÆ ÊEò ºÉ¨ÉÖpùÒ VɽþÉVÉ ¨ÉäÆ EòÉä<Ç VÉÉBMÉÉ, ÊVÉiÉxÉä ¦ÉÒ ±ÉÉäMÉ ½þÉäÆMÉä, ºÉ¤ÉEòÒ ÊVÉÆnùMÉÒ EòÉ ¨É½þi´É ½þè* =xÉEòä {ÉÊ®ú´ÉÉ®ú ´ÉɱÉä <ÆiÉVÉÉ®ú Eò®úiÉä ½þèÆ +Éè®ú nùÖ+É Eò®úiÉä ½þèÆ ÊEò ´Éä Eò½þÒÆ ÊEòºÉÒ ¨ÉÖºÉÒ¤ÉiÉ ¨ÉäÆ xÉ {Éc÷ VÉÉBÆ* ±ÉäÊEòxÉ <ºÉEòä ʱÉB EòÉä<Ç ºÉÖ®úIÉÉ ªÉÉ ºÉÆ®úIÉhÉ ½þè ªÉÉ xɽþÒÆ, =ºÉEòä ʱÉB EòÉä<Ç {ÉÒ.B¡ò. ´ÉMÉè®ú½þ EòÉ <ÆiÉVÉÉ¨É ½þè ªÉÉ xɽþÒÆ? BäºÉä ½þÒ +ºÉÆMÉÊ`öiÉ IÉäjÉ Eòä ±ÉÉäMÉ ºÉ¨ÉÖpù ¨ÉäÆ VÉÉiÉä ½þèÆ, =xÉEòä VÉÒ´ÉxÉ Eòä ʱÉB EòÉä<Ç ºÉÖ®úIÉÉ EòÒ ´ªÉ´ÉºlÉÉ xɽþÒÆ ½þè* ¨ÉÆjÉÒ VÉÒ xÉä Eò½þÉ ÊEò EòÉä<Ç BºÉÉäʺÉB¶ÉxÉ =x½þÉäÆxÉä xɽþÒÆ ¤ÉxÉÉ<Ç, xÉ ½þÒ EòÉä<Ç =vÉ®ú ºÉä EòÖUô +ɪÉÉ ½þè <ºÉʱÉB <ºÉ {É®ú Ê´ÉSÉÉ®ú xɽþÒÆ ÊEòªÉÉ, ªÉ½þ BäºÉÉ VÉ´ÉÉ¤É xɽþÒÆ ½þè ÊVɺÉEòÉä ºÉÆiÉÉä¹ÉVÉxÉEò Eò½þÉ VÉÉ ºÉEòä*
[NEXT PAGE]