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New Delhi : The Labour Bureau, an attached office of the Ministry of Labour & Employment, and Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL) a Government of India enterprise under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B), signed a service level agreement for providing technical and manpower support to Labour Bureau in the conduct of All India Surveys on Migrant Workers & All India Quarterly Establishment based Employment Survey (AQEES). BECIL is a mini Ratna Company under I&B Ministry.

DPS Negi, Director General, Labour Bureau, and George Kuruvilla, CMD, BECIL, signed a service level agreement in the presence of Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Union Minister of State (I/C) for Labour & Employment, and  Apurva Chandra, Secretary, Labour & Employment.

​The signing of the agreement marks the beginning of a new era in the field of IT-enabled surveys. The surveys to be undertaken by Bureau will be integrated with the technology provided by BECIL, which will substantially reduce the time taken for completion of surveys by at least 30-40%. The Ministry, in order to implement the newly introduced category of ‘Fixed Term Employment’ (FTE), has decided that the manpower engaged through the IT partner for supporting these surveys will be offered Fixed Term Employment.

The Fixed Term Employment is a historic provision in the recent labour codes which will bestow various benefits on the workers engaged for a fixed term by treating them at par with permanent workers, according to a PIB release.

Expressing pleasure on the signing of the agreement, Gangwar stated, “These surveys will prove highly useful and game changer in providing Government with crucial data on migrant workers and the employment situation in formal and informal establishments. I am glad that Bureau is integrating the survey work with latest available technology to achieve timely and faster results.”

“The utility of any database lies in its accuracy and timeliness, I am sure that with use of technology, the Bureau will achieve both greater accuracy and timeliness in the data generated under these surveys,” stated Apurva Chandra, Secretary, Labour & Employment.

Speaking on the occasion, DPS Negi, Director General, Labour Bureau, said that it is for the first time that such IT enabled surveys will be undertaken by an organisation on such a largescale. He also informed that this year Bureau will launch and complete five All India Surveys on Migrant workers, Domestic workers, AQEES, employment generated by professionals and employment generated in transport sector. These All India Surveys will generate enormous data for devising the right policies for employment and welfare of labour.