India News | Assam Assembly Amends Labour Laws to 'boost Economic Growth'
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Assam Assembly on Thursday passed four amendment bills, which diluted existing provisions of three labour-related laws to "boost economic growth" and facilitate "ease of doing business".
Guwahati, Sep 3 (PTI) The Assam Assembly on Thursday passed four amendment bills, which diluted existing provisions of three labour-related laws to "boost economic growth" and facilitate "ease of doing business".
The bills were passed without any major objection by the opposition.
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While two of the bills sought to dilute provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act and the Factories Act, another one relaxed norms of the Contract Labour Act while the fourth bill redefined 'factory'.
The passage of The Industrial Disputes (Assam Amendment) Bill, 2020 and The Factories (Assam Second Amendment) Bill, 2020 empowered the state government to exempt new industrial units from "all or any of the provisions" of the related Acts for a period of 1,000 days from the date of establishment of them. The new units will not include the tea sector and will cover all the establishments set up within a period of 1,000 days after the amended Industrial Disputes Act and Factories Act come into force.
Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who also holds the Labour Welfare portfolio, said that these amendments will "boost investment and economic growth and act as an important tool to provide impetus to the creation of a congenial business environment in the state".
The Assembly also passed the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) (Assam Amendment) Bill, 2020 was also passed.
The bill sought to relax norms for all industries falling under the Contract Labour Act by raising the number of minimum employees from 20 to 50, which means the Act will not apply to units having less than 50 staff from now.
Sonowal said that the move will facilitate "ease of doing business". "The proposed amendment will encourage setting up of new industries in the state, which will increase employment opportunities in the organised sector," he said.
The House also passed The Factories (Assam Amendment) Bill, 2020 to change the definition of "factory".
As per the new definition, any unit will be called a factory if the number of persons employed there is less than 20 if it functions with the aid of power, and less than 40 if it does not.
"The proposed amendment will facilitate 'Ease of Doing Business', which will encourage setting up of more industries in the state. This will boost the organised labour employment in the state," Sonowal said in the bill.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)