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Hindustan Times
09-07-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Local laws changed in line with labour codes: Mandaviya
Most states have changed local laws in line with the four stalled labour codes, including nine most-contested reforms being opposed by trade unions, Union labour minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Tuesday, a day ahead of a national strike called by workers. States that have tweaked local laws, aligning them with the federal codes, include both National Democratic Alliance-ruled states and those governed by Opposition parties, Mandaviya said. (ANI PHOTO) Although the Centre has yet to implement the four codes, or laws, passed by Parliament between 2019 and 2020, 31 states have passed or amended legislation and rules to incorporate the main reforms envisaged in the codes, the minister said. The minister however declined to say when the Centre would be in a position to implement the codes. 'We have not yet implemented the labour codes, but states have.' States that have tweaked local laws, aligning them with the federal codes, include both National Democratic Alliance-ruled states and those governed by Opposition parties, Mandaviya said. The government is ready to talk to labour unions, he said, adding that 'their opposition was mostly political.' Labour unions have continued to oppose the reforms, saying they were not looking to meet the government 'just to have tea'. A coalition of 10 national unions have called for a general strike on July 9 in sectors, such as banking, insurance and mining. Their demands include a rollback of 'anti-labour provisions' in the codes. 'About 250 million workers are expected to take part in the strike, including farmers and rural workers,' Amarjeet Kaur of the All-India Trade Union Congress said. The Centre's codes are aimed at boosting investment and making it easier for firms to hire and fire workers, which has been cited as a key constraint in industrial expansion. They also lay down social-security benefits and higher overtime limits. These are the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020; the Code on Social Security, 2020; the Industrial Relations Code, 2020; and the Code on Wages, 2019. Opposition-ruled Punjab and Himachal Pradesh have raised the threshold of employees at which firms will not require government permission to lay off workers, details from the labour ministry showed. Under the Centre's codes, firms employing up to 300 workers will not require government permission to fire staffers or shut plants, up from the previous cap of 100. These states, along with Karnataka and Telangana, have also amended laws related to compounding of offences. Compounding under the central codes allows employers to settle certain violations by paying a fee, rather than facing prosecution. Kerala and West Bengal however have not eased this regulation. Most states have tweaked rules to allow night shifts for women, while those with the ruling NDA-led governments have aligned most of their laws with the Centre's codes. These include employee threshold for retrenchment and those that apply to how a factory is defined.
Mint
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Mint
At key NDA meet, PM Modi warns BJP leaders over remarks on Operation Sindoor: Report
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reportedly warned Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders against making controversial remarks on Operation Sindoor. While chairing the meeting of Chief Ministers and Deputy Chief Ministers of National Democratic Alliance-ruled states in Delhi on 25 May, PM Modi advised that leaders avoid speaking on every issue and thereby making unnecessary statements, a report in NDTV said quoting sources. India launched Operation Sindoor– precision strikes on nine terror camps in Pakistan on 7 May, two weeks after the 22 AprilPahalgam attackthat killed 26 people, mostly tourists in South Kashmir. Since then some BJP leaders have made controversial statements, leaving the saffron party in an awkward situation. Madhya Pradesh Minister Vijay Shah, for example, triggered an uproar with his comments on Colonel Sofiya Qureshi - the face of the armed forces during press briefings on Operation Sindoor. The matter even reached the Supreme Court even as Shah apologised. Shah had referred to Colonel Qureshi as the 'sister of terrorists' at a public event and said a woman from the 'same community' as those living in Pakistan had been sent to strip the country naked. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) began its probe into the controversial remarks by Vijay Shah, one of its members said on Saturday, 24 May. Shah, the minister for tribal affairs, had allegedly made objectionable comments aimed at Colonel Sofiya Qureshi on May 12 while delivering a speech in the village. Then, Ram Chander Jangra, BJP's Rajya Sabha MP criticised the women who lost their husbands in the Pahalgam terror attack. They became victims because they lacked heroic qualities, enthusiasm and zeal, the MP had said. The Congress on 25 May strongly condemned Jangra's and demanded his expulsion from the party. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused BJP leaders of trying to outdo one another in disrespecting the victims of the Pahalgam attack and undermining the sacrifices of the armed forces, PTI reported.
