Punjab govt to revive 3 Labour Courts

Hoshiarpur, May 1 (UNI) Keeping in view the heavy rush of labour cases, the Punjab government has decided to revive three Labour Courts at Bhatinda, Jalandhar and Patiala in addition to the already existing ones at Ludhiana, Amritsar and Gurdaspur.

This decision has been taken as more than 11,000 labour cases of various nature are lying pending in the state, Labour minister Tikshan Sud said here today while addressing a state level May Day function organised by the Labour Department.

Mr Sud said two more labour courts at Ludhiana and Mohali would be opened very shortly to dispose of all the pending cases to benefit the labourers.

He said the Labour Lok Adalats started during last SAD (B)-BJP regime to dispose of pending labour cases that were discontinued by the previous Congress government, would be restarted soon.

After discussing with the representatives of various labour unions and industrialists, minimum daily wage for a labourer would be also announced very shortly, he said.

As many as 16,294 industrial units having 5,51,932 workers were existing in the state, of which 60 were hazardous and 456 were ordinary hazardous units.

The Labour Department would conduct inspections on half yearly basis in the hazardous units and once in two-years in ordinary hazardous units to check the implementation of labour laws, he added.

The Punjab Labour Board had already been constituted to provide immediate relief to the labourers and their families, Mr Sud informed. Self certification scheme for the industrialists would also be introduced to minimise the interference of the labour department, he added.

UNI