Labour reforms needed for economic stability, says Sahu

New Delhi, Apr 8 (UNI) India will have to expedite labour reforms in the interest of long-term economic stability, Minister of State for Labour and Employment Chandra Sekhar Sahu today said.

The core issues of labour reforms could be solved by liberalising existing labour legislation, enacting a flexible exit policy and reforming trade unions, Mr Sahu said while inaugurating a national seminar on Labour Law Reforms for Good Corporate Governance.

He also outlined continuous retraining and updating of workforce skills, worker participation in management and ''good and clean'' corporate governance as the major components of labour reforms.

Public-private partnership was important in this direction, he said while calling upon the industry and trade unions to be involved in the labour reform process.

A holistic and multi-disciplinary approach was required to solve the problems relating to labour, said the Minister.

Mr Sahu pitched for urgent reforms saying Indian industry was going through a crucial phase of restructuring as competition increases and therefore it will have to expedite the labour reforms and ''brave the pangs of change in the interest of long-term economic sustainability''.

There was need for proper labour reforms in both organised and unorganised sector to suit the demands of the changing paradigm, he said while calling upon the industries to adhere to labour laws to achieve good corporate governance.

''The compliance of various labour laws by industries and commercial establishments had assumed added significance in the march towards good corporate governance,'' he said.

Labour reforms, he said, should facilitate globalisation and good corporate governance.

Good labour laws and their effective implementation was essential for good corporate governance, said Coen Kompier, Senior Specialist in International Labour Standards, ILO.

The volume of labour laws was enormous and archaic, he said pointing out that the definition of public utility in Indian labour law was complicated.

The seminar was organised by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India.

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