Centre plans new Act to combine 44 labour laws
The decision has been taken at an inter-ministerial meeting chaired by home minister Amit Shah.
New Delhi: The Modi government is planning a new labour legislation that would merge 44 labour laws under four categories — wages, social security, industrial safety and welfare and industrial relations.
The decision has been taken at an inter-ministerial meeting chaired by home minister Amit Shah and attended by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, labour minister Santosh Gangwar and commerce and railway minister Piyush Goyal.
“A new Bill will be introduced in the coming session of Parliament,” Mr Gangwar said on Tuesday after the meeting. He said the draft would be placed before the Union Cabinet after which it would be introduced in the Lok Sabha, possibly in the second week of the coming Parliament session. “All major labour unions in the country were consulted by the government about the new labour laws,” he said.
It is expected that the laws related to social security, including the Employees’ Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, Employees’ State Insurance Corporation Act, Mater-nity Benefits Act, Building and Other Construction Workers Act and the Employees’ Compensation Act will be merged to create a single social security law or code.
Aimed at helping investors and accelerating growth, the Modi government is planning a new labour legislation that would merge 44 labour laws under four categories — wages, social security, industrial safety and welfare and industrial relations.
Several safety and welfare laws such as the Factories Act, the Mines Act and the Dock Workers (Safety, Health and Welfare) Act, will be merged to create a single category.
The Minimum Wages Act, the Payment of Wages Act, the Payment of Bonus Act, the Equal Remuneration Act and a few others are likely to be merged.