National

Revisit labour policies: Minister

By Our Staff Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MARCH 29. The Union Labour and Employment Minister, K. Chandrasekhar Rao, has asked employers to take greater responsibility for providing financial compensation to workers who might face greater uncertainty, while making labour laws and regulations more flexible.

Addressing a meeting of employers, chairpersons on Chambers of Commerce and economists here today, he said there was an urgent need to revisit the labour policies and other labour-related issues in order to make India competitive in the global economy. The meeting was the first in a series of interactions with social partners and stakeholders on labour reforms. Mr. Rao said that labour reforms did not necessarily mean changing the labour laws though that was one of its aspects. Labour reforms encompass changes in labour policies and programmes for the welfare of labour practices with respect to enforcement of labour laws and making modifications in various rules and regulations made under the existing statutory enactments, he said. One of the constraints to reforming labour has been the absence of an adequate safety net for the work force.

Flexibility

The employers and chairpersons of the Chambers of Commerce favoured flexibility in labour laws and an end to the `Inspector Raj.' Some of them suggested that there should be fewer and simpler labour laws with better enforcement. They said there should be uniformity in labour laws across the country.

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