Trade organisations in Assam have welcomed the state government’s decisions on labour reforms but said more progressive laws need to be introduced.

Federation of Industry and Commerce of North Eastern Region (Finer) president Pabitra Buragohain, welcoming the amendment made by Dispur in labour laws, said it could be a good beginning.

“However, it is important to further ease labour laws to give a fillip to the economy and attract more investment. States like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab have relaxed and initiated mega amendments in the labour laws. For instance, Uttar Pradesh has exempted businesses from the purview of almost all the labour laws for the next three years.The relaxed laws include those related to settling industrial disputes, occupational safety, health and working conditions of workers, and those related to trade unions, contract workers and migrant labourers. If we need to attract investment, we have to go beyond these states and introduce far more innovative and progressive laws,” he added.

Ashish Phookan, chairman of the Assam State Council of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci), said the decisions pertaining to labour reforms taken by the state cabinet on Friday was “very timely”. It would help the local industry in this difficult time and position Assam as a favourable investment destination. “We had requested the government to increase shift timings from eight to 12 hours and are very happy to note that the government has agreed. Introduction of fixed-term employment, increase in minimum number of workers from 10 to 20 for applicability of Factories Act and from 20 to 50 for application of Contract Labour Act are all welcome decisions. We would also like to urge the government to evaluate Assam’s competitiveness vis-à-vis other states and bring about more reforms if necessary,” he said.

He also welcomed the decision to repeal the Assam Agricultural Produce Marketing Act and passing of the Assam Agricultural Produce and Livestock Marketing (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020.

APDCL losses

The Assam Power Distribution Company Ltd has lost nearly Rs 150 crore revenue during the lockdown.

APDCL has been losing more than Rs 5 crore daily owing to stoppage of industrial and commercial activities, a sector which contributes 58 per cent revenue from only seven per cent connections, in addition to non-collection of bills from domestic consumers owing to closure of cash counters. Drop in electricity demand during lockdown amounted to 256MW during off-peak hours and 163MW during peak hours, sources said. The Assam Electricity Regulatory Commission had asked APDCL to provide uninterrupted power supply and extend the due date for payment of bills but allowed it to collect a surcharge of one per cent per month.

Additional reporting by Ali Fauz Hassan