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The Centre’s move to amend the Factories Act 1948, which includes easing of licensing norms, is set to be opposed by all trade unions.
Ahead of a tripartite meeting called by the Labour Ministry this week, RSS-affiliate Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) said the proposed amendments would take the country back to the “feudal age” and help “erring big companies.”
Accusing the Centre of “bypassing” the Parliamentary Standing Committee and empowering the bureaucracy, a BMS statement on Wednesday said “a clerk in the Ministry (Labour) is getting the powers of Parliament flowing from the Constitution.”
The trade union also flayed the “highly diluted” safety provisions and warned the government that “India will be under the risk of increased factory calamities like Bhopal tragedy in every Indian town.”
“An amendment proposes factories to work without any licence flouting established laws including environmental laws. This is a serious threat to safety and other concerns,” it added.
BMS also picked holes in the Ministry’s attempts to “ease doing business”, saying that allowing online applications for licenses and Web-enabled random inspections may lead to mushrooming of illegal units everywhere, adding that the “role of authorities and inspectors should not be diluted by self-certification which has already become controversial.”
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