Problems will be solved, PM assures PSU employees

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, APRIL 14. The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, today had special words for trade unions, doled out promises to public sector employees and in general gave a pro- labour speech while inaugurating the 36th session of the Indian Labour Conference here.

He assured employees of Central public sector undertakings that their problems would be satisfactorily resolved in the ongoing challenge to restructure and revive sick PSUs. He said the Government had reconstituted the Group of Ministers for making recommendations on wage-related matters and safeguarding the interests of workers in the sick units.

Mr. Vajpayee cited many reasons for industrial sickness, including the greed and incompetence of many private managements and improper employment, planning and inflexibility in labour deployment in the face of changing market conditions. ``Vast productive resources worth crores are lying idle in sick industrial units across the country at a time when we cannot afford to waste a single investible rupee,'' he told delegates attending the two-day conference.

Turning to trade unions, the Prime Minister urged them to adopt a positive and supportive attitude economic reforms. ``We would like you to be partners in the reform process since labour, capital, management, society and the state are tied to each other by the bonds of harmony and not of contradiction and conflict.''

Mr. Vajpayee asserted that his Government was aiming at ``more productive employment'' as part of its speedier strategy for economic reforms. ``We have resolved to create one crore additional employment opportunities each year,'' he said, adding there was a growing belief that the nation could not reap the full benefits of economic reforms unless both labour laws and the administrative machinery which implemented them were reformed.

He suggested creation of a new policy and a legislative climate conducive to new investments in all sectors of economy. Pointing out that the capacity of both the public and organised private sectors to create fresh industrial employment was very small compared to the needs of society and was cause for serious concern, Mr. Vajpayee said the Government was committed to ``broadening, deepening and accelerating the scope of internal reforms to increase the prosperity of all citizens''.

``At the same time, we are following a cautious and carefully calibrated policy towards globalisation, so that we can best protect and promote our national interests, including the interests of our farmers and workers.''

Mr. Vajpayee said the existing laws had contributed a lot to the welfare of the organised labour but not as much to the unorganised sector. ``We have also seen that legislative and administrative rigidities have often become hurdles in the path of new investments, without which faster growth is not possible.''

Sharing his firm conviction that labour force should be looked upon as a source of strength and never as a liability, Mr.Vajpayee reiterated that his Government was fully committed to the welfare, development and dignity of labour.

He said the inauguration of the conference today was significant as it coincided with the birth anniversary of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar - remembered not only for his contribution to the framing of the Constitution but also for his association with the labour movement, he having chaired four sessions of the tripartite labour conference before independence. He was also the first post-independence Labour Minister.

In his presidential address, the Union Labour Minister, Dr. Satyanarayan Jatiya said the Government's labour policy was intensely related to economic and social policies but there was still need at the Central and State levels to help in the promotion and organisation of informal sector for social justice and equity.

``There is need to create new job opportunities in order to safeguard social security,'' he stressed, hoping that the Second National Labour Commission, set up last October after a gap of three decades, would suitably review the deficiencies of all existing laws in the context of changing scenario and complete its work within the stipulated period.

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