Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), the labour affiliate of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided to launch a nationwide agitation against the “withdrawal of labour laws” in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh Gujarat – all ruled by the BJP.
These states have brought ordinances to exempt factories and establishments from most labour laws for a period of three years. Several other states like Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Goa and Odisha have increased daily working hours from eight to 12.
“This is unheard in history and is rare even in most undemocratic countries,” said BMS General Secretary Virjesh Upadhyay.
The legislation enacted by Uttar Pradesh would deprive workers of several key rights like the right to form unions, the right to raise an industrial dispute or the right to have grievance redressal machinery.
Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has suspended all but three laws relating to minimum wages, industrial safety and employee’s compensation for a period of 1,200 days for all new industrial units.
BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh has also brought sweeping changes in labour laws and reduced paper work for companies to recover faster from the current crisis and restart their businesses.
The legislations by the states will now be sent for the approval of the President, before taking effect.
India has been under a complete national lockdown since 25 March and the current phase is expected to end on 17 May. But Modi during his latest address to the nation indicated that a redesigned lockdown would continue beyond the present phase to “fight Corona and move forward.”
Since the first case of COVID-19 was detected in the country on 30 January, the infection has burgeoned to reach 78,003 cases, including 26,235 cured and discharged patients and 2,549 deaths, according to data released by the federal Health Ministry.
