Bhopal : Three presentations were held in a meeting that took place at Mantralaya today under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Chief Minister Shri Chouhan and the ministers witnessed the presentation on labour reforms, changes in Mandi Act and rules and efforts for investment promotion in Madhya Pradesh.
On this occasion, Chief Minister Shri Chouhan informed that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi was given the information regarding the labour reforms undertaken in Madhya Pradesh during video conferencing yesterday. M.P. is the first state which has made extensive labour reforms for investment and employment growth in the context of Corona crisis.
Chief Minister Shri Chouhan said that after discussions held with Prime Minister Shri Modi yesterday, the states have been asked to take necessary decisions as per local conditions regarding making necessary arrangements on the state of lockdown. Various activities will be scheduled in the Orange and Green Zones, keeping activities limited primarily in the containment areas. It has been decided that there will not be religious and social services, celebrations etc. during this period. Other suggestions will be sought after discussion with the Crisis Management Group in the districts which includes MPs, MLAs, social workers etc. Along with this, suggestions will also be sought from political parties and media representatives. In the meeting, Chief Minister Chouhan also informed the Cabinet members about the arrangements being made for the labourers coming from other states including food transportation and for sending them to their next destination.
Responsibility given to ministers to seek suggestions
It was decided in the meeting that the ministers will seek suggestions in connection with the necessary arrangements and conduct of economic activities in lockdown-4 from the Crisis Management Group of districts till May 13 following which the suggestions from the state level will be integrated and sent to the Government of India. The ministers will form a group of some districts of the division their charge and hold discussions through video conferencing.
Labour reforms
Important labour reforms have been made in Madhya Pradesh. In the past, 32 essential amendments have been done in 13 central and 4 state labour laws. Notification in this regard was issued on 27 November, 2015. As many as 32 procedural reforms were made for ease-of-doing business and 30 essential services were included in the Madhya Pradesh Public Service Guarantee Act. Recently, a proposal has been sent to the Government of India for 2 important reforms in the Factories Act. Similarly, a proposal for amendment related to Contract Labour Act was sent to the Government of India. Single Window Clearance has been implemented in M.P. Under Compounding, such provisions were made in various Acts, by which the factory management would be able to take action only by paying a fine instead of a court case. A transparent system of inspection has been made. Labour Commissioner Madhya Pradesh has been authorized to conduct third party inspection in place of Mumbai’s organization. Online arrangement for registration and returns has been made. Earlier 13 returns were to be filed which was reduced to 2. Now only one return has to be filed. An important amendment has to be made, which is to increase the working period in factories from 8 hours to 12 hours. In this, the worker will receive payment for overtime. In order to follow social distancing and reduce congestion, notification was also issued to open the institute from 6 am to 12 am under the Shops and Establishment Act. It has been proposed to provide exemption for 1000 days for the relevant labour laws for the establishment and operation of new factories.
Changes in Mandi Act and Rules
It was informed in the meeting that there are three options available to farmers to sell crops in the state. The facility of selling in the mandi, the arrangement of taking the crop from the farmer’s house or farm through the Sauda Patraks and the facility to sell the crop from the private mandi has given pace to procurement work. Madhya Pradesh is the first state to make such a provision. As many as 940 new procurement centres are being operated in the state. This has helped reduce the risk of Corona infection. Several amendments have been proposed for the welfare of farmers. There are two types of private mandis proposed in the Madhya Pradesh Krishi Upaj Mandi (Private Market premises, Private mandi sub-premises, Direct Purchase Centre and Electronic Trading Platform) Rule 2020. One is private Mandi premises consisting of private mandi premises, private mandi su-premises and direct purchasing center and second is electronic trading in which there is a plan to set up a electronic trading platform. Several amendments in the interest of farmers has also been initiated.
Investment Promotion
In the presentation of the Department of Industrial Policy and Investment Promotion it was told that an atmosphere of trust has been created in the state after discussion of the industrialists with Chief Minister Shri Chouhan. In the event of a lockdown after the Corona crisis, 5200 factories were started and labour movement was approved. As a result, the units which were working with 25 percent capacity on April 10 are working with 68 percent capacity on May 10. There is a provision of 200 percent return in attractive garment policy, 20 percent value in special land pooling policy, 80 percent land and double amount to farmers. Investors will also be more interested in the new horticulture and attractive logistics policy, as well as the process of setting up a Rs 158 crore world-class Pharma Park and a leather and footwear park costing Rs 250 crores is being paced up.
Home and Public Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. Narottam Mishra, Water Resources Minister Shri Tulsiram Silavat, Food and Civil Supplies and Cooperatives Minister Shri Govind Singh Rajput, Farmer Welfare and Agriculture Development Minister Shri Kamal Patel and Tribal Welfare Minister Sushri Meena Singh were present in the meeting.
In the meeting, Chief Secretary Shri Iqbal Singh Bains informed that 100 telephone lines have been increased to 250 from the state level control room. Prompt action is being taken in all the districts to help migrant labourers. Principal Secretary Shri Rajesh Rajoura gave presentation regarding labour reforms, Principal Secretary Shri Ajit Kesri regarding Mandi Act and Principal Secretary Shri Sanjay Shukla gave presentation regarding investment promotion efforts. Additional Chief Secretary Shri Anurag Jain, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Shri Manish Rastogi, Principal Secretary Public Relations Shri Anupam Rajan, Commissioner Public Relations Shri Sudam Khade and Director Public Relations Shri Om Prakash Shrivastava were present in the meeting.
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