E-Paper
Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh asks states to outline post-Covid road map for economic activity
In a statement issued on Monday, the labour wing of the RSS said state governments have been unable to convince the public as to how labour laws are hurdles to economic activities and about the emergent situation requiring the extreme step of suspending labour laws.
The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh (RSS), has asked chief ministers of all states to prepare a detailed road map for economic activities and employment generation following the Covid-19 crisis.
The BMS also asked states to reverse decisions to allow labour law holidays and changes to such legislations.
States such as Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat announced a raft of changes to labour laws last week, from allowing longer working hours to a 1,000-day labour law holiday for new investors.
In a statement issued on Monday, the labour wing of the RSS said state governments have been unable to convince the public as to how labour laws are hurdles to economic activities and about the emergent situation requiring the extreme step of suspending labour laws.
“…On the contrary, for the labour, the Covid-19 situation has created an extraordinary situation of massive economic losses and job losses; losses of livelihood, besides financial, psychological and social issues. Urgent measures need to be taken to address this,” said a statement issued by BMS general secretary Vrijesh Upadhyay.
Referring to the recent gas leak at a chemical plant in Visakhapatnam and the death of migrant workers sleeping on a railway track in Aurangabad as examples of the ”grave situation in the labour sector”, the BMS demanded the Union and state governments should make arrangements for free train travel by migrant workers.
“Those workers who want to resume work should be given free transport facilities to workplaces in the absence of public transport. In green and orange zones, where activities have started in a phased manner, Government should give work support and support of wages,” the BMS demanded.
