Mandaviya calls for joint effort to tackle worker issues during crises

Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday said the government and industry must jointly develop mechanisms to respond to global crises that disrupt employment and worker welfare, particularly in industrial clusters.

“We need to set up a joint platform wherein the government can ask the relevant industry association in any such cluster to understand what is the government’s role in this crisis. We need to establish a mechanism to deal with this,” Mandaviya said, speaking at the CII Annual Business Summit.

He added that authorities need systems to identify sectors where workers are facing layoffs, unpaid wages, loss of benefits, or distress migration, adding that the government alone cannot assess such situations.

Mandaviya’s remarks come amid a recent wave of labour unrest across industrial hubs such as Noida and Manesar, where workers have staged protests over low wages, contractualisation, poor working conditions, and lack of social security benefits, even as concerns rise over the economic fallout of the West Asia conflict and a possible spike in crude oil and LPG prices. Policymakers and industry bodies have warned that higher energy costs and supply-chain disruptions could increase financial stress on factories and MSMEs, potentially leading to wage delays, layoffs, and distress migration in labour-intensive sectors.

Additionally, the Centre sent a letter to all government departments and public sector undertakings (PSUs) last week to ensure that all contractual workers are paid on time and to prepare to take action against agencies that are not making payments on time, said Mandaviya.

“Last week, the central government sent a letter to all government departments and PSUs directing them to ensure that all contractual workers who work for them are paid on time. And to be prepared to take action against any contract agency that is not paying workers on time. If required, blacklist these agencies or fire them,” said Mandaviya.

Currently, trade unions are very concerned about contractual workers, and often contractors do not pay workers on time. Industry also needs to look at this proactively, Mandaviya added.

Mandaviya said the government has readied the facility for withdrawal of 75 per cent of provident fund (PF) balance through ATMs and will soon roll it out.

“Subscribers will be able to keep 25 per cent of their balance intact while withdrawing anything over that amount from an ATM or through UPI whenever they want. The facility has already been prepared and we will soon roll it out,” Mandaviya said.

The proposed facility seeks to simplify and speed up PF withdrawals by allowing Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) subscribers to access up to 75 per cent of their balance through ATMs and UPI-based systems, while retaining at least 25 per cent in their accounts. The move is aimed at improving liquidity access and easing claim processes for workers.

Mandaviya also noted that registrations from industry have been low for the PM VBRY scheme, adding that both the person being employed and the company will be paid through this scheme.

The PM Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana (PM-VBRY) is a proposed employment-linked incentive scheme aimed at boosting formal job creation by encouraging employers to hire and retain workers, particularly first-time job seekers. The scheme is expected to provide financial incentives to firms based on verified payroll additions, with benefits tied to sustained employment recorded through formal systems such as EPFO.