Govt committed to labour reforms: Dattatreya

'Labour reforms must be in the interests of employer, employees'

Sending a strong signal across to the labour unions across the country, the government on Tuesday said that it is committed to labour reforms despite the impediments.

“The government is totally committed to reform the labour sector. We need to change labour laws in a manner that they are in the interests of all the stakeholders including the industry, employer and the employees,” Bandaru Dattatreya, who recently took charge as the Labour and Employment Minister, said on the sidelines of the CII India Australia Skills Conference in Mumbai.

Labour unions have been in the forefront when it comes to opposing implementation of new labour reforms. Last month, the Modi government had unveiled a new roadmap for labour reforms which included measures to end the Inspector Raj and a single-window compliance process for companies on labour-related issues.

The government had also announced some more reforms for the labour sector as part of the Shrameva Jayate programme aiming to ease the burden of doing business in the country.

Trade unions across the country, however, had opposed reform measures taken by the government including a system of self certification by industries, and called for an all India protest and dharna in Delhi on December 5.

 According to them, the move would encourage the industry to keep apprentices with low wages rather than taking the employees on the payrolls of the company.

The minister said that all concerned people will be consulted regarding implementation of the new reforms. “We will hold consultations with all stakeholders including the registered trade unions on the reforms,” Dattatreya said.