After Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat’s Chief Minister Vijay Rupani is all set to dilute the labour laws of the state to revive the economic activity, as industries and businesses have come to a halt due to the nationwide lockdown, imposed to curb the spread of Coronavirus.
CM Rupani said in a statement that Gujarat is planning to exempt new projects from provisions of labour laws if the unit will work for at least 1,200 days.
However there is no exemption in the rules regarding minimum wages, safety of workers and compensation in case of accidents. These laws will remain applicable.
In a bid to attract companies relocating from China, Rupani came up with plans of land pooling and also said that companies who are currently operating in other counties like US or China and would like to relocate, are welcome to shift to Gujarat.
CM said that Gujarat government is in touch with Indian embassies abroad to his government’s proposal. He also emphasised that the state’s plug and production policy will help industrial projects at various locations like Sanand, Dahej, SEZs, Dholera and GIDC estates. His government has allocated 33,000 hectares of land for the same.
Earlier, MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had announced at a press conference on Thursday that the state government will exempt new factories from almost all labour laws except for a few provisions in the Factories Act, 1948 for the next 1000 days.
Taking a cue, the Yogi Adityanath government of Uttar Pradesh too passed an ordinance on Thursday to suspend most of the labour laws for three years to revive the economic condition of the state.
“The decision to approve the ordinance was taken on Wednesday in a Cabinet meeting chaired by the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath,” said UP government spokesperson.
While 38 labour laws have been scrapped and only four laws that will continue to prevail are Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, Building and Other Construction Workers Act 1996, Section 5 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1936 and Workmen Compensation Act 1923 , along with some provisions related to women and child.
While other states like Rajasthan Punjab and Himachal Pradesh has also amended the Industrial Disputes Act since last month and raised the working hours from 8 to 12 hours per day.
The central government too is trying hard to showcase India as a great destination for more than 1,000 US businesses to relocate from China in the aftermath of the Coronavirus pandemic and US President Donald Trump’s administration blaming China for the outbreak.