Amidst
two crucial stages of human life—childhood and old age—lies the adult life which is full of activity, agility and opportunity. Sometimes, during adult life, an individual may have to live through unproductive phases, in terms of livelihood. The social security system aims to help the individuals in such times of dependency, arising out of unsteady income, unsupported occupation and natural insecurity. Welfare measures are positively correlated with the standard of living, quality of work life and well-being of the employees. This paper aims to bring forth an overview of the social security and welfare measures at the New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) and the employees' perception regarding the same. It has been observed that the employees, on the whole, are satisfied with the social security and welfare measures at NMPT. However, there are certain health and hygienic aspects which need attention from the authorities. Legislative measures and voluntary efforts are responsible for the formulation of these policies and programs. No doubt, these facilities have a great influence on the working of the employees as they offer psychological and sociological satisfaction.
Human beings are the active agents who accumulate capital, exploit natural resources, and build social, economic, and political organizations and carry forward national development.
In the high-tech era, quality of human resources is the need of the hour. Though capital, machinery and other resources of production are vital for the growth of an industry, one cannot think of business without human resources, as they are the precious wealth of a nation. Therefore, social security and welfare of the workforce are the fundamental prerequisites for transforming the economy into a prosperous one. It is not just platitudinous but also a gospel truth that economic progress and industrial growth are very much complementary to each other. As a result of industrialization, various complex problems do arise in the field of labor, such as unfavorable work environment, unhealthy working and living conditions, lack of basic amenities, low standard of living, low wages, job insecurity, and personal problems. These, if not given timely attention, might lead to problems such as frequent absenteeism, high labor turnover and migration, and inefficiency in productive work. To sustain and maintain the happiness of labor force is the challenge of the day which could effectively be dealt through one of the weapons such as social security and welfare measures. This study makes an attempt to understand the social security and welfare measures at New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT), which is one of the major functioning ports in India. |
