Amendment to Indian Factories Act

Amendment to Factories Act, 1948:The Minister of State for Mines, Steel and Labor & Employment Shri Vishnu Deo Sai has said that according to the National Sample Survey Organization information, aggregate number of workforce in the nation in 2009-10 was 46.5 crore. Out of this about 2.8 crore (6%) were in the composed part and the parity 43.7 crore (94%) was in the sorted out segment. The greater part of the work laws are pertinent to the composed area just which embodies something like 6% of the aggregate workforce.
In a composed answer in the Lok Sabha today, Shri Vishnu Deo Sai said, the Government has arranged a far reaching proposal to change the Factories Act, 1948 so as to  get work changes. The significant revisions proposed include:

• Relaxation of restrictions on night work for women in factories subject to certain conditions
• Increase in limit of overtime to 100 hours (existing 50 hours) in a quarter
• Introduction of a new Sub section regarding compounding of offences
• Provisions of Personal Protective Equipment for safety of Workers/ More precautions against fumes and gases
• Empowerment of Central Government to make Rules (presently only State Governments make Rules).

The Minister said, currently alterations to the Factories Act, 1948, the Government has set up in 2011 an Expert Committee headed by Doctor Narendra Jadhav, then Member of Planning Commission. The Expert Committee had an arrangement of gatherings including the Employees and Workers Associations (Trade Union) in the month of January to March, 2011. The proposals of the Trade Unions Representatives and Employers Representatives have been considered by the Expert Committee. The report of Expert Committee was likewise set in the Public Domain alongside the proposed changes in September, 2011. The draft revisions now proposed by the Government incorporate the conclusion of the Inter-clerical Consultations, remarks of the State Governments and perspectives of the Trade Unions Representatives and Employers Representatives communicated amid the above gatherings.