To pave the way for companies to participate in his call for ‘Make in India’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unveil the Pt. Deendayal Upadhyay Shramev Jayate Karyakram here on Thursday to usher in key reforms in the labour sector.

The programme will include various initiatives being taken to create a conducive environment for industrial development and doing business with ease, as well as protect workforce interests.

“One of the major hurdles for industrial growth… is the multiplicity of labour laws and the difficulty in their compliance,” the Labour Ministry said in a release, adding that there was not only a need for amending labour laws to make them flexible, but also ensure that compliance becomes easy for employers, particularly in the medium, small and micro sector involved in manufacturing.

Universal account number

During the launch, Modi will dedicate Shram Suvidha Portal, Labour Inspection Scheme and Portability through Universal Account Number for Employees Provident Fund as well as release a booklet on National Brand Ambassadors for Vocational Training and a souvenir for All India Skill Competitions.

The Apprentices Protsahan Yojana, to support one lakh apprentices till March 2017, will also be launched. The launch will be attended by State labour, health and vocational training Ministers among others, to ensure its effective implementation, as labour is a State subject.

Quoting World Bank’s annual report for 2014, which carried out a comparative study on Indian labour laws, the Ministry said it had established the fact that Indian States with flexible labour laws and easier compliance mechanism had fared better in terms of industrial development, than those where labour laws were rigid.

For employers, the Ministry is developing a Unified Labour Portal and Labour Inspection Scheme in the Central sphere to facilitate online registration through a unique labour identification number (LIN), which will be soon allotted to six-seven lakh industrial units, filing of self-certified and simplified single online return, uploading of inspection reports by labour inspectors and quick redressal of grievances.

For employees, provident fund portability will be ensured through Universal Account Number (UAN), which has already been allotted to four crore subscribers to the Employees Provident Fund Organisations.

“To ensure financial inclusion of the economically weaker sections, the UAN is being seeded with bank accounts, Aadhaar cards and other KYC details,” the Ministry added.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW