|
COVER STORY:
GOVERNMENT
|
Satyanarayan
Jatiya
Labour
|
| Out
of the Loop |
Ministers:
|
2
|
|
Joint secretaries and above:
|
10
|
|
No. of PSUs referred:
|
NA
|
|
Budget in Rs cr (2001-2):
|
1025.9
|
The
question is not whether the Labour Ministry is the worst performing of
all economic ministries but who is responsible for its dismal record:
its minister Satyanarayan Jatiya, a former labour union leader and a fifth-term
MP from Ujjain, or the politically explosive costs of taming organised
labour? Well-wishers of Jatiya-and they include many affiliates of the
RSS-say changes in labour laws are just not possible in a country that
lacks a welfare net and that no minister, however committed, can move
ahead.
The project is daunting but it does not help
for the minister to pretend that change is unnecessary. The Disinvestment
Ministry is a failure, but its minister is not. He is trying every way
to create political support for privatisation.
|
|
|
| Promptness of response |
1.0 |
| Understanding of issues |
3.0 |
| Commitment to reforms |
1.0 |
| Openness to ideas |
1.0 |
| Achievements |
1.0 |
| Average score |
1.4 |
| OVERALL RANK |
10
|
| All ratings are on a scale
of 10 |
|
|
|
The
perception is that Jatiya is opposed to any amendments to labour
laws that allow lay-offs because of his long association with trade
unions.
|
|
But Jatiya is doing nothing. Instead, the popular
perception is that he is opposed to any changes in labour laws that allow
easy and honourable lay-offs because of his long association with the
trade unions whose cause he can't be seen to betray. Nor has he done anything
to remove the perception. Attempts over three weeks to reach the minister
drew a blank.
Given Jatiya's resistance to reforms there are
only two ways to move ahead: force the issue or bypass the ministry. Both
are being attempted. For industry, the most heartening news was Finance
Minister Yashwant Sinha's proposal in the current budget to amend the
Industrial Disputes Act (IDA) and Contract Labour Act (CLA). While IDA
amendments will ease lay-offs in units with up to 1,000 workers, CLA changes
are aimed at allowing companies to hire contract workers for non-core
activities (for instance, a steel maker can contract labour for gardening).
|
|
COST
OF NON-PERFORMANCE
|
|
|
Only
8% of the total workforce is covered by labour laws
Many laws are obsolete and anti-labour
No security net for those who have lost their jobs
COMMITMENTS
Avoided personal commitment by not granting appointment.
Budget has committed to amending IDA and CLA in 2001-2.
|
Besides, a report by the Planning Commission
and the Export Import Policy for 2001 has also underlined the need for
amendment. "The Government is trying to convey the message that labour
reforms will happen, with or without the support of the minister,"
comments an expert involved in redrafting the laws. That the ministry
has been bypassed is evident. While the Labour Commission appointed by
Jatiya is examining possible changes in IDA, CLA and the Trade Unions
Act (TUA), already a draft of amended IDA is ready and TUA has been amended
once.
If changing laws is too radical a step, Jatiya
could take simple steps like changing archaic rules in the Factories Act.
The present law makes it mandatory to provide drinking water in earthen
pots, while making the installation of a water cooler illegal. But Jatiya's
vision falls short of even these baby steps. The question is: why is he
being retained in this job?
|
METRO TODAY
Web
Exclusives
