NEW DELHI: A parliamentary standing committee on labour has sought reply from nine states including Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat on "dilution" of labour laws, its chairperson Bhartruhari Mahtab said on Wednesday asserting that the industry cannot be pampered at the cost of labourers' rights.
Responses have been also sought from four more BJP-ruled states - Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh and Assam and besides Rajasthan and Punjab, both ruled by the Congress.
The panel has further sought information from Odisha on dilution of labour laws where Mahtab's own party BJD is in power.
Many stated governments such as Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Gujarat have modified labour laws to kickstart economic activity affected by the nationwide lockdown and attract investment.
Similarly, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat have also amended their respective acts to increase the working hours from 8 to 12 hours a day or 72 hours per week.
"The panel has sought information from nine states on dilution of various laws related to labourers as it wants to understand how dilution of labour laws will help the industry and to check that they are not trampling on the rights of the labour force," Mahtab told PTI.
He said there are 44 more than labour laws enacted by the Centre and over 100 enactments, notifications relating to the rules have been done by various states, but despite this only 6 per cent labour force is in organised sector.
Underlining the need for maintaining a balance between helping industries and protecting rights of the workers, Mahtab said, "industry cannot be pampered at the cost of the labourer's rights, there has to be a balance."
However, he welcomed the announcements made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday related to micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and EPF, saying these will provide a much-needed boost to the MSME industry which is labour intensive.