New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday unveiled long-awaited labour reforms, aligned with his “Make in India” push.
“The power that Satyamev Jayate (truth triumphs) has, the same power Shramev Jayate (labour triumphs) has for the development of our nation,” Modi said in his address, emphasising that the people must change their mindset on those who do manual labour, to ensure progress.
“We have to make ‘Make-in-India’ a success, for that ease of business is a must,” he added.
The new system aims at getting rid of what is called the “Inspector Raj” or terror rule of inspectors that has hobbled industry for many years.Â
About 1,800 labour inspectors across the country will get text messages from the Prime Minister apprising them of the new rules, which also address the issue of wages and pensions for workers.
“While about one crore EPFO subscribers will get SMSes regarding portability through UAN, about 6.50 lakh establishments and 1,800 inspecting officers will get SMSes about Unified Labour Portal which will (make for) a transparent and accountable Labour Inspection Scheme,” the ministry said.
The labour ministry’s nine-page concept note says one of the two key areas of the reforms will be “Shram Suvidha” – a unified labour and industrial portal, where all data will be stored. The other will be the “Labour Inspection Scheme”, which aims at ending arbitrariness in the inspection mechanism.
Under the new Labour Inspection scheme, labour inspectors will get auto-generated lists telling them where to go for inspection. Ministry officials said that the inspectors have to upload their reports on to the portal within 72 hours of carrying out an inspection.
This is radically different from the present system, under which units for inspection are selected locally, without any objective criteria, allowing inspectors to harass unit owners and even exploit them in cases of violation.
Each of the 6 to 7 lakh industrial units in the country will also get a unique Labour Identification Number, or LIN, and the units will be informed about this via text messages on Thursday.
The LIN web portal will operate through a unique LIN or Shram Pehchan Sankhya for each employer. The portal will provide for the e-filing of annual returns by employers. Under the Apprentice Protsahan Yojana, 50% support for training in MSMEs will be provided by the Labour Ministry.
For easier access to employees’ provident fund accounts and insurance schemes, the accounts would be made portable and linked to bank accounts.
The wage ceiling has been raised from Rs 6,500 to Rs 15,000 per month to ensure vulnerable groups are covered under the EPF scheme. A minimum pension will also be introduced for the first time, so after retirement, a person gets at least Rs 1,000 per month.
Apart from disinvestment and land acquisition, labour is one of the areas in which the industry has demanded decisive action. On the PM’s trio to the US earlier this month, investors and CEOs of multinationals complained to the Prime Minister that red tape and labour laws were the chief deterrents to doing business in India.
The Left Front and trade unions are waiting for clarity on the issue. “We will formulate a strategy once the government announces the new rules. Any dilution will be unacceptable,” a Left leader said.
Apart from Union Labour Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Minister of State for Labour and Employment Vishnu Deo Sai, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, MSME Minister Kalraj Mishra, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Sarbananda Sonowal attended the programme which aims to take forward these initiatives in tandem with the NDA government’s vision of ‘Make in India’.