The MP government is planning to introduce radical changes to labour laws, including allowing more factories to operate without following safety & health norms & give a free hand to new companies to “keep labourers in service as per their convenience”. https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/mp-plans-to-ease-labour-laws-factory-safety-norms-as-it-woos-industry-120050601307_1.html

Two set of labour law changes:

A. All existing factories hiring up to 40 workers will not have to follow any occupational, health and safety norms (i.e. out of ambit of the Factories Act)

B. For new units set up in next 1000 days, labour laws will be significantly diluted

For some of the changes, the MP government will seek permission from the central government.

New units set up will be exempted from: cleanliness, waste disposal, ventilation, lighting, water, urinals, canteens, rest rooms, crèches, working hours, wages during leave period, & need for factory manager to send notice to govt in case a worker contracts occupational disease.

Sample this:

"New establishments will get exemption from many provisions... Firms will be able to keep the labourers in service as per their convenience. The intervention of the department of labour & the labour court in action taken by the industries will be stopped."

The new factories will also not be required to contribute Rs 80 per worker towards the Madhya Pradesh Labour Welfare Board fund, set up in 1982, for over 2 years.

Just a reminder of how some safety norms in the Factories Act came into being after the Bhopal gas tragedy in MP. Instead of giving cover to more factories under the law, the state government wants to exclude more manufacturing units from this law now.

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