Withdraw order to suspend labour laws, set up labour panel: Plea to Gujarat CM

By Our Representative
Taking strong exception to the Gujarat government “relaxing” labour laws for 1,200 days (more than 3 years), including those pertaining to fixed working hours, social security, number of workers to be employed in an industrial unit etc., Gujarat’s minority rights leader Mujahid Nafees has said, this was done in order to please industry without taking workers’ interests in mind.
Pointing out that the changes will take the exploitation of labour to a new level, Nafees said in a letter to Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani that, already, more than 40 lakh migrant labourers working in Gujarat were in a dire situation, forcing them to leave the state as they were without any food and employment, The only option for them was to go back home by whatever possible means – by foot, bicycle, bike, truck, and finally the ill-planned trains and bus services.
Asking the government to immediately withdraw the order to suspend labour laws for 1,200 days, Nafees, who heads Minority Coordination Committee (MCC), said, meanwhile the state should set up an immigrant workers' commission and come up with whatever proposals for changing labour laws during the upcoming session of the Legislative Assembly.
The commission, Nafees said, should keep industry wise data of the workers coming to the state, and coordinate with other state governments on all the points like identity cards, minimum wages, social security and compensation the time of the lockdown disaster and their rehabilitation.

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