<div><em>Minister tells <strong>Suman K Jha</strong> reforms should not be made hostage to political differences and prejudices</em><br><br><br>Trade unions of all hues and the Opposition parties may have dubbed the labour reforms measures unleased by the Centre as “anti-people”, “and anti-labour”, but the Union Labour and Employment Minister, Bandaru Dattatreya, feels that the reforms process is getting a big push even by Opposition-ruled states like Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Assam.</div><div> </div><div>In an exclusive interview with BW Businessworld, Dattatreya, who has recently held regional labour conferences in various parts of the country, said that labour reforms process were initiated by the Congress at the Centre even though they appear to be developing second thoughts about it now.</div><div> </div><div>Asked why only BJP states like Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh were taking the lead in labour reforms, Dattatreya said that he had seen “a number of positive movements on labour reforms from several non-BJP states”. “Tamil Nadu wants to undertake several labour reforms, and it’s not a BJP ruled state,” he said. The state is ruled by the AIADMK.</div><div> </div><div>On the Congress opposition, he said that some Congress-ruled states like Assam have been found in sync with the Centre on labour reforms. “While I went to Assam, they (the state government) were very cordial and positive. They are appreciating many labour laws, and want to undertake new reforms too. If states like Karnataka want to oppose, they can have their own laws”.</div><div> </div><div>One of Dattatreya’s predecessors, Congress’s Mallikarjun Kharge, now Opposition leader in the Lok Sabha, is from Karnataka. State’s Labour minister T Parameshwara Naik told Businessworld that for the state government, the interests of the labour were supreme.</div><div> </div><div>Dattatreya said that the indications from Uttar Pradesh too were encouraging. “When I went to Uttar Pradesh, I found that UP too was in a mood to reform the labour laws,” he said.</div><div> </div><div>Insisting that labour reforms were long overdue, and much-required for the creation of jobs and enterprises, the Minister said that the reforms should not be made hostage to political differences and prejudices. “Telangana and Andhra Pradesh may have a rivalry but both the states have come out with a new industrial policy that gives incentives to industry. The process must be encouraged,” he said.</div><div> </div><div>The Union government may be claiming the support of even non-BJP states on labour reforms, but the trade unions are far from impressed.</div><div> </div><div>AITUC’s Gurudas Dasgupta told Businessworld that the labour reforms being pursued by the Union government “were pernicious” and against the interests of the labourers. In fact, a group of 11 central trade unions is going ahead with their nationwide strike call on September 2. The group includes the BMS, part of the BJP’s wider RSS family.</div><div> </div><div>Asked about the reservations of the trade unions and the government’s response to their concerns, Dattatreya said: “Out of their 12 demands, the government is positive on six or seven. We are here only for the last one year. The trade unions had decided their charter of demands in 2014 when the UPA was in power”. Asked if the government was working on the trade unions recalling their strike call, the minister said: “I cannot say that. But we are solving their demands”.</div><div> </div><div>(<strong>Full text of interview with Union Labour and Employment Minister, Bandaru Dattatreya, will be published on BW website tomorrow, on Aug 21, 2015</strong>).</div><div> </div>
