BHUBANESWAR: The State Assembly on Monday passed the Odisha Essential Services (Maintenance) Act Amendment Bill, 2020, amidst strong protest from Opposition members.
As per the amended law, any person found instigating and funding strikes will be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or a fine up to `5,000 or both.
The new provisions of ESMA empower the government to prohibit strikes in essential services like fire services, excise, forest, prison, reforms, electronics and others.
The amendment in ESMA became necessary to protect the interests of the citizens and not to deprive them from getting essential services, said Minister of State for Home Dibyashankar Mishra.
Dubbing the Bill draconian, Leader of Opposition Pradipta Naik said it is intended to muzzle the voices of people.
Senior Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati said this is an attempt to choke the voice of the people by the BJD government which has miserably failed on all fronts. This Bill is anti-democratic and anti-people, he said.
The Assembly also passed the Odisha Lokayukta (Amendment) Bill, 2020 and Odisha Local Fund Audit (Amendment) Bill, 2020.