Left party members in Rajya Sabha were on their feet on Thursday demanding an assurance from the government that permanent jobs would not be brought under contract.
Labour minister said that the huge difference in wages between regular and contract workers is leading to unrest.
Contract workers are paid much less than regular workers. This year's Economic Survey estimates wages are on an average 20 times higher in the formal sector than in the informal sector. Arindam Majumder reports.
Units employing up to 49 workers are not required to list themselves with the government.
'If movement remains stalled for three to four months, more than 300,000 recruitments from India could be affected.'
Freedom to downsize workforce, increase work hours and curtail workers' right to join unions are some of the radical steps under the government's consideration for industries in special investment zones.
'With this amendment, permanent employees will cease to exist.' 'The government should give a human touch and human face to labour reforms.' 'Ideas like survival of the fittest, might is right, etc, are rules of the jungle.' 'They cannot give new terms like hire and fire to jungle law.'
Unlike the other Bharatiya Janata Party-led governments, Assam has not proposed doing away with most labour laws for a certain number of years. Instead it has proposed introducing fixed-term employment to help both workers and industries, and seeks to take more firms out of the ambit of laws governing factories and contract workers.
11 categories of industries will be exempt from the Madhya Pradesh Industrial Relations (MPIR) Act of 1961. This includes textile, leather, cement, iron and steel, electrical goods, sugar, electricity, public motor transport, engineering including manufacture of motor vehicles, among others.
Single registration will be coupled with single licence, along with a single return, for executing projects for five years.
As the Centre faces multiple hurdles, BJP-governed states such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat have swiftly moved in to usher in radical reforms as they aim to take a larger share of the FDI pie.
'We are worried for the workers because in the private sector, jobs are not secure, there is no decent work condition and there is no social security.' 'That's why we are opposing the economic policies of this government.'
Cabinet may take up amendments to 3 laws on Wednesday; but no relaxed retrenchment norms yet.
The Vasundhara Raje government's initiatives mark a critical step forward in labour law reforms.
There is no doubt that archaic labour laws governing employment of contract labour have fanned tensions at the workplace and need to be amended.
The Opposition parties need to spell out how exactly they will protect the citizen from government excess, asserts T N Ninan.
The government has received flak for allegedly shielding the corrupt ministers and slow pace of investigation in irrigation scam.
This will help employers keep a track of the diseases workers could suffer from while doing their jobs.
The state has allowed industrial units in special economic zones (SEZs) to lay off workers without government's sanction, regardless of the number of workers
Sunder Navalkar devoted her whole life to the cause of workers' rights, remembers Sanober Keashwaar.
It is increasingly clear that Rajasthan, under the leadership of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, will lead the country in terms of policy reform.
The Left unions want concrete action and not just 'assurances'.
Many placement agencies are fly-by-night operators in New Delhi.
The Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs staged a walkout ahead of the voice vote.
The problems facing India and its economy are far too severe and deep to be fixed in 100 days, and an excessive focus on the first 100 days might have indicated that the government had failed to understand that.
At this point of time, the requirement of the economy is obviously more investment, which will create more jobs and increase purchasing power that will sustain a high level of production, says K M Chandrasekhar.
