Labour Section

        A number of labour legislations were enacted for the purpose of providing a healthier, safer and more pleasant environment for working class and improving the productivity of organization concerned. Among them, the Factories Act, 1948, the Payments of Wages Act, 1936, the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 and the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 play a significant role in regulating the welfare of the factory workers and employers. The labour section of the department continues to engage in the collection, tabulation and analysis of data under these enactments and prepares reports for dissemination. Data relating to Labour Statistics is one of the important sources for effective policy making especially in the current context of changing economic and social conditions. For supporting this purpose, DES of Kerala collects the labour statistics through its labour section. These details are collected from the Factories and Boilers Department, the Chief Inspectorate of Plantations and the District Labour Offices.

Report on Maternity Benefit Act 1961

            Data concerning the welfare of female labourers under the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 are collected from the Chief Inspectorate of Plantations and the Directorate of Factories and Boilers. Using this data, report on the implementation of the Maternity Benefit Act is prepared and send to Labour Bureau, Govt. of India annually. This report contains details such as the number of establishments submitting returns, the number of women claiming maternity benefits, the number of claims accepted, paid and the total amount of maternity benefit including bonus paid, etc.

Wage Structure Survey Report

          This section of DES conducts a sample survey known as the wage structure survey, specially designed to study the fluctuations in wage rates in the trade, commercial and construction sectors of the State. The wage rates of both skilled and unskilled workers in the construction sector as well as shops and establishments (both in rural and urban areas) are collected in the survey. The wage structure survey was started in 1963-64 and has been continuing on a regular basis.

         Stratified random sampling method is used for the sample selection. For the survey, 140 samples from commercial sector and   19 samples from the construction sector are selected from each district. Data are collected by district offices of DES on a quarterly basis. These data are consolidated and scrutinized by DES, and quinquennial reports are published in department website.

 

Reports on Other than Industrial Dispute in Industrial Establishments

        Monthly report on unrest in industrial establishments due to reasons other than industrial disputes are collected from District Labour Offices. These reports contain details regarding the unrest, the number of workers directly affected, man days lost, wages lost, etc. Tabulated data has been furnishing to Labour Bureau, Govt. of India every month.

 

Housing Section

      The Housing statistics cell was established in 1967 under the Directorate of Economics and Statistics, which is the official agency for collecting data on housing sector in the state. The Housing statistics cell was initiated during the third five year plan to collect, codify and forward statistics on housing sector to the National Building Organization (NBO). As part of this, housing statistics cells have been set up in the Department of Economics & Statistics, the Public Works Department and the Department of Urban Affairs. The main functions of this cell are to collect, codify and publish the prices of building materials, labour wages in the building construction sector and building statistics.

Collection of Building Statistics

         The housing statistics section of DES collects building statistics from all rural and urban local bodies of the state annually. For compiling housing statistics, the department began collecting panchayath level building statistics for rural areas in all districts of Kerala from 2001-02 onwards through district offices of DES in prescribed format, based on records maintained by the local bodies. This section has also been collecting building statistics from urban area since 2015-16. The building statistics report provides details on the number of residential and non-residential buildings completed in each financial year along with details of ownership, type of roof, etc. Census method is used for data collection. This report is published annually in the department website.

Collection of Building Material Prices and Wages

        The retail price of 179 building materials and wages for different categories of building construction labourers are collected on quarterly basis from each district of the state. Purposive Quota Sampling method is used for data collection. Sample shops from district headquarters are the centers for data collection of building material price. This information on housing sector is very useful for formulation of housing policies. Quarterly reports and annual average reports are published in department website.

 

Price Collection of Minor Minerals

         As part of estimating GVA (Gross Value Added) at primary sector, the housing section collects the prices of minor minerals on a quarterly basis from each district of the state. These district level prices are then consolidated by the housing section and provided to the State Accounts Division in DES for estimating state’s GDP.

Urban Statistics for HR and Assessment (USHA) Scheme

        Recognising the importance of collection, compilation and analysis of housing and building construction statistics, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs through its agency National Building Organization (NBO), is implementing a scheme ‘Urban Statistics for HR and Assessment (USHA)’ through DES. Under this scheme, the details of building permits and completion certificate issued, circle, market, rental rate of housing properties are being collected from selected ULBs with population one lakh and above as on 2011-12. In Kerala, 11 ULBs are selected under USHA scheme. Under this scheme, information related to the building permit viz; detailed address of building, building permit no, permit issue date, number of storeys in the building, height of the building, etc are collected from the local self-governing bodies of the selected centers and the data is uploaded and sent to the NBO via the software called ‘Building Related Information and Knowledge System (BRIKS)’. All these data are published in the website BRIKS of National Building Organization, Govt. of India.

 

Organisation chart of Labour & Housing Section