Maharashtra to amend the Factories Act

PUNE: To further increase the 'ease of doing business' Maharashtra government will make changes to the Factories Act 1948 which will free up more than 14,000 units from the 'inspector raj'.

According to the present provisions of the act, a unit was defined as a factory if it employed 10 workers in case of units using electricity and 20 workers in case of units not using it. This definition will be amended to make it 20 workers (for units using power) and 40 workers (for units not using power) to be called a factory. This will free up 14,300 units from the purview of the the act .

Changes are also proposed to allow women to work in night shift and to make it easier for workers to work over time.