President gives assent to Industrial Disputes (Gujarat Amendment) Bill, 2020

President Ram Nath Kovind have given his assent to the Industrial Disputes (Gujarat Amendment) Bill, 2020.

Highlights

• The Industrial Dispute (Gujarat Amendment) Bill, 2020 was passed in the monsoon session of Gujarat Assembly in September 2020.
• These Labour law reforms have been done in line with Ease of Doing Business.

What are those amendments?

• The bill amends the Industrial Dispute Act, 1947. As per the act of 1947, establishments which are having 100 or more workers were required to get permission of the state government in advance, before effecting layoffs, retrenchment, or closure.
• In the recent amendments, these number of workers has been increased to 300.
• Further, in case of layoffs, workers were required to be paid compensation amounting to 15 days’ salary for every year of service in accordance with the Industrial Dispute Act, 1947.
• The amendment has been done to this part. Now, the factories will require to pay workers a compensatory amount equivalent to the average pay of the last three months.

Aim of the amendments

These amendments in the law are aimed at reducing the compliance burden on industries. This would attract new industries and investments and create more employment opportunities in the state of Gujarat.

Need of the amendments

The economic growth of the country and industries were highly impacted due to Covid-19 pandemic situation. So, with these amendments, the government is trying to facilitate the growth back on track.

Facts for Prelims 

Article 200 of the Indian Constitution provides the ‘Assent to Bills’. When a Bill has been passed by the Legislative Assembly of a State of the Legislative Council, it is presented to the Governor. Then the Governor either gives assent to the Bill or withholds assent or reserves the Bill for the consideration of the President.  Article 111 provides that when a Bill is passed by the Houses of Parliament namely, the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha, it is presented to the President. President either gives assents to the Bill or withholds assent.