Sikkim Labour Department and Drivers Association Held Meeting

Secretary, Labour Department, Government of Sikkim Mrs. Namrata Thapa convened a meeting with the Drivers Association in the Conference Hall of Shram Bhawan, Sokeythang, today.

The meeting had the presence of Joint Labour Commissioner, Mrs. Tashi Wangmu Sherpa, officers and staff of the Labour Department, and drivers’ association members from the State.

The main objective of the meeting was to generate awareness among the working drivers in the State about the benefits of the scheme for registered drivers in the State of Sikkim under the Sikkim Labour (Regulation of Employment and Condition of Service) Act, 2021.
The scheme will build a comprehensive database of the unorganised workforce and will also help deliver social security schemes implemented by the Central and State government.

An open discussion was held where all the queries of the concerned drivers were laid before the chair and were discussed thoroughly. A series of suggestions were put forth on the table by the members, and the chair welcomed their valuable inputs and assured them that the department under the Government will take up necessary course of action ahead.

The discussion was fruitful and the objective of the meeting was fully met. The vision of the scheme was supported by all the members present and the chair also took the comments raised during the discussion into account. Overall the meeting brought much insight into the benefits of the schemes.

The Secretary further informed that the drivers can register on the e-SHRAM portal where each registered one will be provided with a unique Universal Account Number (UAN) and they can avail various benefits of the social security schemes. She also informed that the workers registered under the scheme will be given accidental Insurance under Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY).

Earlier, Joint Labour Commissioner, Ms Tashi Wangmu Sherpa briefed the association members about The Sikkim Labour (Regulation of Employment and Condition of Service) Act, 2021.

The Act is to provide a comprehensive database, of the entire spectrum of Workforce, Intermediaries or Service-Providers or Sub-Service Providers, Owners, Employers and Establishments and annual licensing of Service-Providers or Sub Service-Providers and establishment to enable the various Programme-implementing agencies to effectively execute the plethora of existing welfare-schemes and to capacitate the State Government to frame rules, regulation, guidelines and programmes for improving the working and living conditions of labourers and to protect them from exploitation by their employers.

It is to be noted that the department had come up with a toll-free number regarding