The Center on Thursday held a review meeting with officials of state labor departments and asked them to expedite the process of formulating rules under the new labor laws as implementation of the new labor laws remains one of the top agenda items for the new government. .
“It was an evaluation meeting where the rules formulated by states were discussed. It was also decided that the process of formulating these rules should be expedited by those states that have not yet formulated them. The need to make the rules uniform was also discussed. so that the whole exercise of entering new codes will not be in vain. Representatives of all states have agreed on the proposal,” a person aware of the development told Business Standard.
So far, a total of 24 states/UTs have formulated rules under all four labor codes, and West Bengal, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Lakshadweep and Dadra & Nagar Haveli are yet to formulate rules under any of the codes, according to a recent survey. by the government’s VV Giri National Labor Institute.
The study also found that the rules framed by various states and union territories that framed these draft rules under the new labor laws show “too much” divergence and are contrary to the fundamental ethos and spirit of the new codes. “The rules of some states/UTs prima facie appear to be contrary to the fundamental ethos and spirit of the codes and may defeat the intended purpose,” the study said.
In addition, the meeting also discussed the issue of construction workers and asked states to frame relevant rules and regulations to better utilize the resources available under the construction workers’ welfare council. It has been previously reported that more than Rs 30,000 crore remains unutilized by construction workers’ welfare boards across the country.
“Additionally, it was also discussed to better streamline the process and integrate the various wellness programs with the E-shram portal so that it can act as an all-in-one solution for employees to avail wellness programs,” said the person.
First print: June 20, 2024 | 9:19 PM IST