The Hindu Business Line : Panel to study textile ind contract employment offer

The proposed offer
Industry has guaranteed a minimum 150 days of work a year to contract employees.
Says the proposal could be implemented on an experimental basis in textile parks first.

New Delhi , June 9

A high-level panel formed by the Centre to look into labour law flexibility is likely to take up an offer made by the domestic textile industry guaranteeing a minimum 150 days of work a year to contract employees.

A meeting of the new sub-group formed under a Group of Ministers on the sector, which has been entrusted with the task of specifically looking at labour law flexibility issues raised by the industry, is expected to meet sometime later this month.

The high-level panel, comprising the Commerce and Industry Minister, Textile Minister, Labour Minister, State Chief Ministers and trade union leaders, would also consider a proposal forwarded by industry for increasing the ceiling on the number of hours in a shift to 12 hours per day from nine hours at present and also hiking the working hours in a week to 60 hours from 48, provided workers are suitably compensated.

"The Group could look at the pending industry proposal to hire contract workers for a minimum of 150 days a year to execute seasonal orders, since this is in line with the Government's National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme promise of at least 100 days of work a year. One option could be to consider implementing the proposal on an experimental basis in the upcoming integrated textiles parks to allay apprehensions raised by the Left parties against the move," a Government official involved in the exercise said. The Centre plans to set up around 25 large `Scheme for Integrated Textile Parks' of international standards by 2007.

Seasonal demands

The textile sector, led by the Confederation of India Textile Industry (CITI), has been demanding flexible labour laws due to the seasonal nature of the textile and garment export business. The industry had also sought an increase in the number of working hours in textile units in light of the increased orders coming in from foreign buyers following the abolition of global textile trade quotas since January last year.

The move in favour of liberalising the labour laws, especially in the textile sector, has reportedly been top among the Centre's priorities, but the process has come unstuck with the ruling UPA's Left allies opposing any move towards reworking the existing labour regulations. In fact, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, had, on more than one occasion, reiterated the Government's commitment to labour reforms and admitted that the current set of rules and regulations were constraints to the overall growth in the country's textile industry.

Loss of orders

Currently, most Indian exporters have been unable to pick up high-volume seasonal orders since executing the orders meant employing additional workers on a temporary basis, which is not permissible under the existing labour regulations.

More Stories on : Textiles | Employment | Human Resources | Labour Reforms

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