Cabinet approves Fourth Code of labour laws, land monetisation

The Cabinet on Wednesday approved a slew of bills including the fourth code of labour laws, which will be now introduced in Parliament.

The government had earlier decided to merge all the 44 labour-related laws including wages, industrial relations, social security and safety, health and working conditions. Three codes related with wages, safety, health and working conditions and industrial relations have been tabled in Parliament and Code on wages has already become law.

It also approved the withdrawal of Jammu & Kashmir Reservation (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019. In addition, the Cabinet approved the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and the Central Sanskrit Universities Bill, which will be introduced in Parliament.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet gave its nod to a land monetisation proposal at Pragati Maidan to develop a five-star hotel. Under this proposal, India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) will transfer 3.7 acres at Pragati Maidan on a 99-year fixed leasehold basis at ₹611 crore in favour of the SPV.

This SPV will be formed by India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) and Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) for development and operation of a five-star hotel, an official statement added.

The SPV will through a competitive bidding process select a suitable developer and operator third party to construct, run and manage the hotel on a long-term fixed lease basis. Currently, ITPO is implementing its mega project of redevelopment of Pragati Maidan into International Exhibition and Convention Centre and the hotel facility is part of this plan.

In other decisions, Cabinet nod was given to a MoU signed between Election Commission of India with the Election Commission of Maldives in the field of electoral management and administration. A pact with India and Germany on co-operation on strategic projects in the field of Railways also got the Cabinet nod.