NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday called for revisting some of the labour laws as they have not yielded the desired results.
“Our regulatory framework in the labour sector should encourage investment in labour intensive industries. It should also ensure the well being of our workers. Simultaneously, it should make our industry more competitive by enhancing productivity,” Singh said inaugurating the 43rd session of Indian Labour Conference.
Recalling how the country has enacted several progressive labour laws since independence, Prime Minister Singh said: “But it appears that not all these laws have had the intended good effects that we would like to see on the ground. We need to consider the possible role of some of our labour laws in contributing to rigidities in the labour market which hurt the growth of employment on a large scale”.
“Is it possible that our best intentions for labour are not actually met by laws that sound progressive on paper but end up hurting the very workers they are meant to protect,” Prime Minister said.
Pointing out how the Government was keen on not only making growth faster but also more inclusive, he said: “We should constantly introspect whether our policies are serving our goals. We should reflect upon possible flaws in our policies as well as ways to strengthen policy to withstand adverse circumstances”.
He also asserted that the Government was committed to economic reforms with a “human face” in which the interests of the weaker sections of society are effectively protected.
“We need therefore sustained growth of 9-10 percent per annum to make a serious dent on poverty, unemployment and under development”, he added.
Earlier, Union Labour Minister Mallikarjun Kharge said the Government is going ahead with modernizing and improving the quality of training in ITIs.
The most innovative scheme of my Ministry is for developing demand driven short term training courses based on Modular Employable Skills.