Jharkhand to amend labour laws for industrial growth

jamshedpur: the jharkhand government has decided to rewrite its labour laws to facilitate industrial growth in the state. the labour ministry has commissioned the xavier labour relation institute (xlri) here to suggest amendments in the archaic industrial dispute act and the trade union act. the xlri is expected to submit its report early next year.another committee of officials from the labour department has also been set up to recommend changes in the labour laws, labour minister, raghuwar das, informed here on friday. "we hope to table the bill on trade union act during the budget session of the state assembly next year". major industrial bodies, including the state chapter of the confederation of indian industries (cii), have been demanding reforms in the labour sector. they have claimed the move would boost industrial development in the state. das, however, assured interest of the workmen would not be compromised in rewriting the labour laws. "our aim is to simplify the rules and make them more effective. the changes would be in line of gujarat, maharashtra and west bengal". the minister said the government would make the trade union act more stringent to check the mushrooming of unions. the labour ministry has decided to adopt the second labour commission's recommendation on formation of unions. the panel has suggested support of at least 10 per cent of the employees was necessary to set up a union in a factory. "earlier, one needed just seven people to form a union. we have had cases when seven members of a family have got together and formed a tade union," das pointed out. the ailing public sector undertaking heavy engineering corporation at ranchi has 33 trade unions for 4,500 employees. another private sector company in the state has one union per nearly 57 employees. "the larger number of trade unions has not helped the cause of the workers," the minister observed. "it has only resulted in unhealthy practice. there are other problems also. the recognized union of trf here did not have the support of the workers. our intention is to make the trade union more responsible". the labour ministry has already clipped the wings of its inspectors by imposing restrictions of official inspection. it has also introduced single window system for the i-t companies in the state.