The Assembly of Rajasthan have passed four new Labour Law Bill which is said will ease the companies and employers to hire, train and dismiss workers.
Passed by voice vote were changes to the Factories Act, the Industrial Disputes Act, the Apprenticeship Act and the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act. The Vasundhara Raje government had introduced these Bills last week.
Since these are amendments to central legislations, on subjects in the Constitution’s concurrent list (meaning, the Centre and states can both enact laws on these, with central law prevailing in case of a difference, unless approved earlier), they all need the President of India’s assent before becoming law.
The amendments proposed in the Industrial Disputes Act include empowering employers to retrench up to 300 employees without permission of the government. At the moment, the upper limit is 100 employees. Plus, in case of retrenchment, a worker should raise an objection within three months. At present, there is no time limit. The proposed amendment also says a trade union can be formed only if it gets 30 per cent of the total workers as members. The figure is 15 per cent at the moment.
Presenting the Factories Bill, Yunus Khan, the public works minister, said Rajasthan would now be known as a “labour reform state”. “These changes will create employment and also better the industry atmosphere.” The minister also promised that the government would simplify the procedures for opening of small and medium enterprises.
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