BPEA TELANGANA: August 2019

Tuesday, 20 August 2019

A need to change the direction of labour reforms to make them more labour friendly :: BMS

Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh has criticised the labour reforms mooted by the government saying there is a need to change the direction of labour reforms to make them more labour friendly besides urging government to take immediate steps to revive the economy.

In a resolution passed in its three-day long 144th national executive committee meeting which ended on August 18, BMS said it is time the government look back and re think about the paradigm in which it is working.

“India needs to start seriously discussing about an India centric developmental plan rather than that dictated by western rating agencies and institutions like WTO, WB and IMF,” the RSS-affiliate trade union said in a statement on Monday.

BMS has called upon all workers to conduct nation-wide awareness programme from September 25 to October 2 to get ready for agitation against the wrong economic and labour policies of the government.

Suggesting around a dozen immediate measures to the government, BMS said urgent steps need to be taken to revive India’s automobile sector by initiating steps like easing loan norms, reducing GST rates, removing uncertainty over electric vehicles, providing stimulus package etc.

“Government should stop privatisation and disinvestment of PSUs and revive sick PSUs, besides increasing wage level of the common worker by strictly implementing minimum wages under the new Code on Wages,” it said.

The trade union has urged government to ensure that the labour law reforms are labour-friendly and not inhumane, all employment generation programs should concentrate on job intensive sectors, restructuring of NITI ayog so as to remove its apathy towards leading social organisations and trade unions and creating a mechanism under each ministry to consult social sector organisations like trade unions, farmer organisations, small scale organisations etc before any reform is undertaken.

Expressing concern of the union towards anti worker attitude of the bureaucrats and instil concerns, BMS suggested that government forms a technological commission to look into the role of technologies imported from outside which are displacing jobs like artificial intelligence.

The trade union has asked government to come out with a white paper on the impact of 28 years of LPG reforms, WTO, FTAs, FDI etc. on Indian economy to justify government’s ongoing reform agenda.