【New Delhi】In what could be called a major step towards reforming the country's archaic labour laws, the government has started discussion on amending the Industrial Dispute Act to allow easier retrenchment of workers in National Investment Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs).
“Tripartite consultations are being held for amendment in the Industrial Disputes Act of 1947 in regard to NIMZ," minister of state for labour Vishnu Deo Sai said in a written reply to Lok Sabha to a query whether the government has any proposal to amend the restrictive labour law for easier retrenchment of workers in NIMZs. He did not give details of what changes are being contemplated.
At present, the ID Act mandates companies employing more than 100 workers to go through a cumbersome process of seeking government's permission for closing down a factory.
While the NDA government under Atal Behari Vajpayee had considered amendment in the ID Act to raise the threshold limit to 300 workers from 100 for a company to seek government permission, it was never carried out. The UPA government junked the proposal outright fearing political backlash.
○Govt relaxes labour rules for oil & gas
【New Delhi】In continuation of its policy to ease labour laws, the government has amended a clause in Mines Act to provide more flexibility to oil companies in deploying workers “on and off” oil blocks.
Rigidity in the labour laws as stipulated in the Mines Act has prevented oil companies to scale up output by engaging workers for more than a week. The Mines Act stipulates daily maximum work of 8 hours in underground and 9 hours on surface, compulsory weekly day of rest and maximum 48 hours of work a week.
In a notification, the labour ministry said the workers in oil and gas sector will now be exempt from the some provisions of Mines Act subject to certain conditions such as a person can’t be deployed for more than 12 hours in any day or 21 days at a stretch even with a grant of rest for an equivalent number of days. Also, the person deployed for 21 days at a stretch has to be provided with free boarding and lodging, transport and medical and other recreation facilities.
【News source】
Govt may amend law to allow easier retrenchment of NIMZ workers
Govt relaxes labour rules for oil & gas
Free download of "The Origin of Christianity"
Special sale for Ad Space
Readers' Voice
Your Comments
SEAnewsFacebook
SEAnewsGoogle