Essential Services Maintenance Act | |
---|---|
Parliament of India | |
| |
Citation | Act No. 59 of 1968 |
Territorial extent | India |
Enacted by | Parliament of India |
Keywords | |
essential service, strike | |
Status: Expired |
The Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) is an act of Parliament of India which was established to ensure the delivery of certain services, which if obstructed would affect the normal life of the people. [1] This include services like public transport (bus services), health services (doctors and hospitals). [2] [3] The ESMA is a law made by the Parliament of India under List No. 33 in Concurrent List of 7th Schedule of Constitution of India. Hence it maintains national uniformity by providing minimum conditions of essential services across the nation. For any violations in specific regions, State governments alone or together with other state government can enforce their respective act. Each state has a separate state Essential Services Maintenance Act with slight variations from the central law in its provisions. Hence, in case the nature of strike disrupts only a state or states, then the states can invoke it. In case of disruption on a national scale, especially railways, the ESMA 1968 can be invoked by central government.
Although it is a very powerful law, which has potential to suppress genuine demands of employees, its execution rests entirely on the discretion of the State government in normal circumstances. The law has seen little use in India, with many strikes by public transport providers or staff, doctors or Government employees, being continued for weeks without ESMA being invoked by the Union Government or the State Government. There have been instances of citizens approaching courts for implementation of ESMA, and the executive being forced by court orders to declare ESMA over a strike and the strikes being called off overnight. [4]
The 1968 Act had a sunset provision of 3 years as per section 1(3) of the Act. Accordingly, the Act expired on 28 December 1971. Subsequently, the Essential Services Maintenance Act, 1981 was enacted, with a sunset provision of 4 years, which was extended to 9 years by the 1985 amendment. Accordingly, the 1981 Act expired on 23 September 1990.
The law in effect is the Andhra Pradesh Essential Services Maintenance Act of 1971. [4]
The Kerala Essential Services Maintenance Act, 1994. This is the law in effect in the state of Kerala since 1994. As is the general rule, it has slight variations in the provisions of the law from the central act. What existed before this act was the Kerala Essential Services Maintenance Ordinance of 1993. [5] [6]
In Rajasthan this law is known as RESMA (Rajasthan Essential Services Maintenance Act),(1970)
The Government of Karnataka enacted Karnataka Essential Services Maintenance Act in 1994 [7] and was in force since 16 April 1994. The life of the act was ten years as per section 1(3) and it lapsed on 15 April 2004. [8] The Government of Karnataka has threatened to invoke the act multiple times since then, [9] [10] even though the act had lapsed in 2004. However, the state has the power to impose the central law without modification unless it enacts a new law suitable for it. The Government of Karnataka has planned to reintroduce ESMA with Karnataka Essential Services Maintenance Bill, 2013 which will be tabled in the winter session of the legislature. [7]
Esma has been re-introduced in Karnataka effective from 09/06/2015 as per the gazette notification on 28 May 2015. The term now extends to one year from commencement of the Act and can be extended for six more months.
The state has Uttar Pradesh Essential Services Maintenance Act, 1966 (U.P. Act 30 of 1966), which was amended in 1982 and 1983. [11] This Act does not have any sunset provision, and gets imposed from time to time, under section 3(1) of the Act, for six months at a time. It was recently imposed on 22 May 2020, 25 November 2020 and 25 May 2021. [12] [13]
DTC drivers' strike: Delhi government imposes ESMA [14] [15]
Delhi govt imposes ESMA on doctors on strike. Step was taken as the doctors continued there strike even after government agreed to all their demands. Doctors call off strike hours after AAP govt imposes ESMA.
India is a federal republic comprising 28 states and 8 union territories. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions.
The district magistrate, also known as the district collector or deputy commissioner, is a career civil servant who serves as the executive head of a district's administration in India. The specific name depends on the state or union territory. Each of these posts has distinct responsibilities, and an officer can assume all of these roles at once. The district magistrate is primarily responsible for maintaining law and order, while the district collector focuses on revenue administration, and the deputy commissioner is in charge of overseeing developmental activities and coordinates government departments. Additionally, they also serve as election officers, registrar, marriage officer, licensing authority, and managing disaster responses, among other things. While the specific scope of duties may vary from state to state, they are generally similar. The district magistrate comes under the general supervision of divisional commissioner.
In India, President's rule is the suspension of state government and imposition of direct Union government rule in a state. Under Article 356 of the Constitution of India, if a state government is unable to function according to Constitutional provisions, the Union government can take direct control of the state machinery. Subsequently, executive authority is exercised through the centrally appointed governor, who has the authority to appoint other administrators to assist them. The administrators are usually nonpartisan retired civil servants not native to the state.
An Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) is a marketing board established by state governments in India to ensure farmers are safeguarded from exploitation by large retailers, as well as ensuring the farm to retail price spread does not reach excessively high levels. APMCs are regulated by states through their adoption of a Agriculture Produce Marketing Regulation (APMR) Act.
The high courts of India are the highest courts of appellate jurisdiction in each state and union territory of India. However, a high court exercises its original civil and criminal jurisdiction only if the subordinate courts are not authorized by law to try such matters for lack of peculiary, territorial jurisdiction. High courts may also enjoy original jurisdiction in certain matters, if so designated specially by the constitution, a state or union law.
The administrative divisions of India are subnational administrative units of India; they are composed of a nested hierarchy of administrative divisions.
The 2006 Indian anti-reservation protests were a series of protests that took place in India in 2006 in opposition to the decision of the Union Government of India, led by the Indian National Congress-headed multiparty coalition United Progressive Alliance, to implement reservations for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in central and private institutes of higher education. These protests were one of the two major protests against the Indian reservation system, the other one being the 1990 anti-Mandal protests.
Central Waqf Council is an Indian statutory body established by the Government of India under the Waqf Act, a subsection of the Waqf Act, 1995. It was established for the purpose of advising it on matters pertaining to the working of the State Waqf Boards and proper administration of the Waqfs in the country. Waqf is a permanent dedication of movable or immovable properties for religious, pious or charitable purposes as recognized by Muslim Law, given by philanthropists. The grant is known as mushrut-ul-khidmat, while a person making such dedication is known as Wakif.
The Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) was a controversial law passed by the Indian parliament in 1971 giving the administration of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Indian law enforcement agencies very broad powers – indefinite preventive detention of individuals, search and seizure of property without warrants, and wiretapping – in the quelling of civil and political disorder in India, as well as countering foreign-inspired sabotage, terrorism, subterfuge and threats to national security. The law was amended several times during the subsequently declared national emergency (1975–1977) and used for quelling political dissent. Finally it was repealed in 1977, when Indira Gandhi lost the 1977 Indian general election and the Janata Party came to power.
The following outline is provided as an overview of, and topical guide to, India:
The Lokayukta is the Indian Parliamentary Ombudsman, executed into power, through and for, each of the State Governments of India. It is brought into effect in a state after passing the Lokayukta Act in the respective state legislature, and a person of reputable background is nominated for the post. The post was created to quickly address the working of the government or its administration. Once appointed, Lokayukta cannot be dismissed or transferred by the government, and can only be removed by passing an impeachment motion by the state assembly.
Municipal or local governance refers to the third tier of governance in India, at the level of the municipality or urban local body.
A municipal corporation is a type of local government in India which administers urban areas with a population of more than one million. The growing population and urbanization of various Indian cities highlighted the need for a type of local governing body that could provide services such as healthcare, education, housing and transport by collecting property taxes and administering grants from the state government.
Tata Marcopolo is a bus and coach manufacturing company headquartered in Karnataka, India and a joint venture between Tata Motors and Marcopolo S.A.
The Madras Public Libraries Act, subsequently renamed as the Tamil Nadu Public Libraries Act, was enacted in Madras State, India, in 1948. The act was the first of its kind to be enacted in India after independence. The Connemara Public Library became the first library to come under the purview of this act, as a "State central library". Subsequently, nine district libraries were added during the Five year plan from 1951. The act was enacted based on research and activity by S. R. Ranganathan and the Madras Library Association. Other states have enacted public library acts modelled on the Madras Public Libraries Act.
Right to Public Services legislation in India comprises statutory laws which guarantee time bound delivery of services for various public services rendered by the Government to citizen and provides mechanism for punishing the errant public servant who is deficient in providing the service stipulated under the statute. Right to Service legislation are meant to reduce corruption among the government officials and to increase transparency and public accountability. Madhya Pradesh became the first state in India to enact Right to Service Act on 18 August 2010 and Bihar was the second to enact this bill on 25 July 2011. Several other states like Bihar, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand Maharashtra and West Bengal have introduced similar legislation for effectuating the right to service to the citizen.
VAT was introduced very beginning in year on year value added tax (VAT) into the Indian taxation system from 1 April 2005. The existing general sales tax laws were replaced with the Value Added Tax Act (2005) and associated VAT rules.
Haji Irfan Solanki is an Indian politician from Uttar Pradesh, affiliated with the Samajwadi Party. He is the member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly from Sisamau Kanpur Nagar. He belongs to the Teli community.
The Indian state governments have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in India with various declarations of emergency, closure of institutions and public meeting places, and other restrictions intended to contain the spread of the virus.