The NDA government’s good work is not getting adequately publicised, but ‘negatives’ are being played up, Principal Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office Nripendra Misra told leaders of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh on Saturday.
Assuring the RSS-affiliated trade union that labour reforms will only be taken forward after taking into account the concerns of employee representatives, Mr. Misra said that the government would prove it is ‘most pro-labour,’ according to statement from BMS general secretary Virjesh Upadhyay.
“Whatever good things are done by the government are not getting sufficient publicity where as negatives are being widely propagated,” Mr Misra was quoted as saying in the statement about an hour-long meeting between the BMS delegation and the PMO’s top official.
Apart from labour law reforms, the delegation that also included its former president Saji Narayanan also discussed issues relating to employees in the beedi industry and sick as well as closed public sector undertakings.
Mr. Misra also reiterated to the BMS that the “written assurance given on August 27 last year to Central Trade Unions by the Group of Ministers constituted by the Prime Minster will be implemented soon,” the statement added. The meeting assumes significance as the BMS had broken rank with other central trade unions and decided to stay away from a nationwide strike on September 2 last year, citing the government’s assurance that it is working towards implementing nine of the twelve demands made by trade unions.
These demands included higher minimum wages, a rollback in the foreign direct investment reforms in defence and railways, higher bonus payments and a minimum floor pension for employees’ provident fund members.
On March 30, eleven central trade unions issued a fresh nationwide strike call for September 2 to mark their protest against government’s unilateral moves to amend labour laws and indifference towards their charter of demands. The BMS has again chosen to stay away from this industrial action.
