Plea in SC against labour law dilution

NEW DELHI: A petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Thursday to challenge the decisions of Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh to freeze major labour laws, a move the states deemed necessary to revive the economy amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

The changes give industries more flexibility in hiring and firing, determining their wages, and reduce their liabilities in terms of providing employee benefits.

The petitioner, Jharkhandbased journalist Pankaj Kumar Yadav, submitted that diluting labour laws will lead to exploitation of labourers, many of whom have already lost their livelihood due to the nationwide lockdown.

“A welfare state cannot be expected to force its least fortunate and most oppressed citizens into further miseries on the pretext of facilitating economic activities/development by taking away their existing rights,” the petition said.

UP , MP and Gujarat recently froze major labour laws . While UP suspended key labour laws for three years through an ordinance, MP said it was putting most labour laws on hold for 1,000 days. Similar decisions were taken by Gujarat.

Yadav pointed out that Indian labour laws are legislation intended to protect the “oppressed class”. He said that freezing the labour laws will lead to an increase in daily and weekly working hours and deprivation of basic human facilities at the workplace, the right to approach courts of law and routine inspection of industrial units by the factory inspectors, etc.

The petition highlighted the exemption granted from the Factories Act. The same was granted under Section 5 of the Factories Act, which allows government to exempt industrial units from the purview of the Act during “public emergency”.

The Act defines “public emergency” as a grave emergency threatening the security of India caused by a war, external aggression or internal disturbance. The petitioner argued the coronavirus disease pandemic does not fall under the category of “public emergency”.

While some economists have welcomed the move for clearing structural bottlenecks, possibly leading to greater investment, the Opposition said the measures would undermine worker rights.