SEZ, FDI not exempt from labour laws: Mallikarjun Kharge

THANE: Union Labour Minister Mallikarjun Kharge said that there was no relief to special economic zones (SEZs), foreign direct investment ( FDI) as well as retail and services industries from labour laws.

He was speaking a chief guest at the 88th General Council Meeting of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) here, where more than 1500 office bearers from all over the country participated.

He refuted the allegation that the government was not not doing anything for the welfare of the working force and said that in the last three years as many as nine amendments were carried out in laws which were in the interest of the work force.

In his address to the gathering, Chief Minister Pritviraj Chavan said that the government permitted FDI in various sectors only to help employment opportunities grow.

He thanked the INTUC for its political resolution which had appealed to those in Gujarat and Himachal to vote for the Congress. He said that in the forthcoming 2014 general elections, INTUC support will go a long way in helping the Congress retain power.

The Maharashtra Legislative Council's deputy speaker Vasant Davkhare who spoke on the occasion asked the chief minister to pay attention to the fate of workers of closed units in Thane city.