Labour reforms not likely in near future: Patel

NEW DELHI: Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Praful Patel today said he does not forsee the likelihood of labour reforms in the country in the near future due to absence of any thought process in this regard.


"I don't think anything coming in the near future. there is no thought process, its all on paper...," Patel said in response to a query on labour reforms during the Mindmine Summit here.

He, however, said, the employee-employer relationship has changed in a positive direction in last 5-10 years and now companies are not shying away from passing on the benefit to the staff.

"...as companies have done better they have not shied away from transferring some of the benefits to people who work for the organisation and that is a very healthy sign," he said.

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers ( SIAM) had been calling for reforms in labour laws allowing lay-offs of employees during a slowdown with adequate unemployment benefits.

"...if you talk of labour reforms...the hire and fire policy which is prevalent in the West or in other countries may not be (in India) but I think as a partnership between the working class and the employers (now), it has a far more understanding synergy," he added.

He said earlier strikes used to be the order of the day but that has changed now.

"...you see far less strikes in the country, bank strike or a organised strike by a certain section once in few years, otherwise used to be almost the order of the day," he added.

On power sector woes, he said the solutions to power problems can be tackled if domestic coal is fully mined.

"We with 100 years coal reserves are not mining our own coal and running all the way to Indonesia, Australia and South Africa to buy coal to bring it here..," he added.

On Air India, Patel said the airline should be privatised.

"At a personal level, I always would have favoured privatisation of Air India not for any other reason but if you look at it any service sector where the consumer interface is there...I think it's best to have private sector," he said.