CHANDIGARH, APRIL 4: Union Labour Minister Satyanarayan Jatiya, while assuring the trade unions on the security of workers and the labour class has stated that the "hire and fire" rules cannot work in India.Addressing a press conference, the Minister said that the Government would oppose any such "hire and fire" policy, as the labour class could not be treated as a commodity and that the human factor had to taken into consideration while dealing with the work force.Jatiya, however, said that the Government may consider some exemption on this after discussion and taking the trade unions into account.The minister added that the government would soon stress on workers' education and thus make the labour force into a multi-skilled force to turn them in tune with the changes in the economy. In this regard, the government was also considering starting the training at site for construction workers.The Minister added that the Government was considering changes in the 1926 Trade Union Act, whereby only such unions having 10 per cent membership of the total work force would be given recognition. The Cabinet had already approved the changes and the same would be implemented soon, he said. As per present laws, any 20 employees of an organisation can form a trade union and register it with the government.The minister also hinted at review of the labour laws, which would be discussed at the annual Labour convention starting on April 14, where representatives of 250 labour unions would attend and the prime minister would inaugurate the same.He added while a new labour policy is being planned, the focus of the discussions at the convention would be on removing industrial sickness and upgrade skills of the labour force.The government has also increased the number of processes and occupations classified as hazardous for child labour to 51 and 13 respectively, he said. Explaining about globalisation necessitating changes in the labour laws, the minister said the 2nd Labour Commission set up recently under the chairmanship of Virender Varma was reviewing the whole labour scenario and relating laws.The minister said that the country's position on imposing international labour standards on the WTO forum has recently been recognised by the director general of the International Labour Organisation who recently visited India.He informed that the PF account of an employee will now be operated through Internet with a specific code to make it easier for those labour who keep changing places and jobs.He said that the ministry plans to increase insurance premium from Rs 500 to Rs 600 for employees. Jatiya added that the government has set up Lok Adalats to solve problems related to Provident Fund also.
