Journalism of Courage
After BJP-ruled Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, ruled by the Samajwadi Party, intends to initiate labour reforms in the hope of turning around the business environment in the state, and send a positive signal to investors.
The state government is working on amending the Industrial Disputes Act, Contract Labour Act, Factories Act and Boiler Act to help boost job creation and attract investment, a senior government official told The Indian Express.
Uttar Pradesh had 6.59 crore people employed in FY10, mostly in the agriculture sector, as per Planning Commission data. The state is working on improving growth rate of industry, which averaged 5.89 per cent between FY06 and FY14.
“We have constituted a committee under the principal secretaries of industry and labour along with other departments to study the Rajasthan model, and also to study the models sent to us by the Central government. We want to see what amendments can be brought in labour laws including the Industrial Disputes Act, Contract Labour Act and Factories Act. I should get the report by the end of July or, at the most, by the first week of August. We are not averse to making major changes in these acts,” UP chief secretary Alok Ranjan said.
Ranjan said the government “will do all that can be done in terms of facilitating business environment in Uttar Pradesh”.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s government has been under fire from all quarters over the rising numbers of rape and cases of other crimes in the state. The Samajwadi Party performed disastrously in the Lok Sabha elections, its tally shrinking to 4, and the government is keen to be seen as taking corrective action.
Last month, the state government organised an investors’ conclave in New Delhi, at which around 20 companies promised to invest a total of Rs 35,000 crore in the state. A similar conclave is planned in Mumbai by the end of this year, and another in Agra next year.
UP’s reform plans follow an announcement by Rajasthan, which last month cleared state-level amendments to the Industrial Disputes Act, Contract Labour Act, and the Factories Act to help create more jobs.
“We are studying all the acts related to the labour sector. As such, we have Rs 8,000 crore worth mega projects in the pipeline. We have appointed nodal officers, who are senior officials, for each potential investor, including those who have signed MoUs with UP and those who plan to invest in mega industrial units.
“The officers are contacting the investors personally to see that they get the necessary clearances. We are also studying models like that of Karnataka and Maharashtra,” Ranjan said.
A senior official in the state’s Department of Industry said that instructions to amend labour laws had already been issued, and the state was now looking at overhauling application processes.
“We are going for process simplification, faster clearances of projects with the help of IT, and simplification of application forms,” the official said.
The official added that the state was in the process of devising a mechanism to ensure speedy No-Objection Certificates from the pollution control board, consent to operate industries and renewal of licences. The commercial taxes department has been instructed to simplify forms, the official said. Seven departments — labour, tax, pollution, MSME, UPSIDC, Noida Authority and Greater Noida Authority — are working together to facilitate the ease of doing business in the state.
Soon after taking charge, commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman had asked all states to study the report of best practices prepared by the department of industrial policy and promotion, and emulate it to improve business environment.
