Labour bill not this session

NEW DELHI: THE comprehensive labour bill will be introduced only in the Budget session of Parliament, overshooting the earlier deadline set by the government. The deadline was set for the winter session of Parliament. The first draft of the labour reform bill, as it was tentatively called, was scheduled to be drawn up by mid October.
Indications are that although a rough draft of the omnibus labour legislation has been drawn up, the government, which is in the thick of detailed discussions with industry and labour representatives, is inclined to sew up all ends firmly before placing the draft bill in Parliament.
Sources maintained “We’re not just holding discussions in Delhi with labour and industry. We’re conducting prolonged talks with representatives all over the country. Evolving a consensual draft that will stand scrutiny in Parliament from all quarters requires extensive discussions if it is to be passed rather than cold storaged.�
Minister Sahib Singh Verma, who admitted at the CII-organised World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting here that the bill would be delayed, also held that he would do his best to push the bill through.
Originally, he had maintained that the provisions of the new omnibus la-bour law would be implemented by the start of the Budget session. There are over 50 different laws that are being amal-gamated into a comprehensive labour legislation.
“There is need to rationalise laws but there are no shortcuts to this exercise because we have to carry along diverse interests. We are working carefully on doing away with irrelevant issues in the existing laws.�