A draft proposal to amend the Kerala Headload Workers Act of 1978 with a provision for up to two years of imprisonment and a fine of ₹1 lakh for a worker demanding ‘nokkukooli’ (gawking fee) is awaiting ministerial nod.
Major changes, including substitution of the expression ‘headload workers’ with ‘loading and unloading workers’ and skilling them to also handle ‘delicate and sophisticated articles’ – which they are barred from handling at present –manually or with the help of machinery, are part of the proposals drafted by the Kerala Headload Workers’ Welfare Board (KHWWB) and fine-tuned by the Labour department.
The draft amendments have been sent to Labour Minister V. Sivankutty, it is learnt.
According to the draft, which has been accessed by The Hindu, ‘loading and unloading worker’ would mean “a person engaged or employed directly or through a contractor in or for an establishment, whether for wages or not, for loading or unloading or carrying, manually or using any machinery.” The suggestion is that the KHWWB will train the workers to handle articles with ‘due care and diligence’ and to use ‘various machines’.
Punishment
A whole new section is proposed to be legislated to do away with ‘ nokkukooli’. It prescribes imprisonment of up to two years or with a fine of up to a lakh or both for claiming work as a loading and unloading worker without a valid and subsisting registration.
Regardless of registration status, the same penalty shall be awarded for claiming work that a worker is not entitled to; for claiming higher wages than prescribed; or for threatening “any employer or his employee or representative or custodian of goods demanding more than prescribed wages” or demanding “wages or other remuneration for work not done by the claimant, or done by another, or done with machines exclusively”.
The use of foul language, being drunk during work hours, indulging in “immoral activities or financial misappropriation or extortion” would also invite the same punishment. All these shall be treated as offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and shall be proceeded against under the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).
The authority
The KHWWB would be the authority to notify prescribed wages as per the amendments proposed to the Kerala Headload Workers Rules. Validity of registration granted to a loading and unloading worker would be for a period of two years, with its renewal subject to the worker proving that it’s his livelihood.
To avoid disputes among the workers, the card issued to them “shall state the boundary or area or material to be handled or shop or establishment within which the worker is entitled to work…”
The recommended Rules empower the Deputy Labour Officer to issue warning to headload workers, suspend registration for six months, cancel registration or slap compensation proportionate to loss sustained by the employer.
