Admn to enact legislation to provide jobs to locals

Puducherry, Apr 29 (UNI) The territorial administration is taking steps to enact legislation to provide employment to locals in private industrial units here, Health and Labour minister E Valsaraj told the Legislative Assembly today.

Replying to a question by Na Ra Kalainathan (CPI), he said the administration had written to other states to find out the modalities adopted by them.

Stating that Punjab and Chandigarh had responded, he said the government would take steps after studying it.

Though no specific guidelines was there to employ 60 per cent of the local labourers in the industrial units, the administration was insisting upon the managements to recruit locals at the time of giving registration certificates, he added.

Pointing out that local youths were not being employed in the industrial units started here, the CPI leader said that labourers were being brought from other states.

Denying his charge, Speaker R Radhakrishnan said there was scarcity of labourers and lot of vacancies were there in all the industrial units here.

At one stage Mr Kalainathan said that labourers from other states were being brought to Puducherry and kept as bonded labourers.

When the Speaker pointed out that there was no bonded labourers in the Union Territory, MDMK member P R Siva said the Karaikal Collector had rescued bonded labourers from Orissa from a factory recently.

UNI PAB ROY RL ND1415