New Delhi, May 6 (KNN) India's rigid labour laws , most of which date back to British rule in the country, have been the bane of the Indian industry which have not worked to much advantage of the workforce either.

The small and medium enterprises have particularly been affected by these laws .  While these units, mostly operate in seasonal kind of businesses which are vulnerable to ups and downs of the global cycles, they do not have any flexibility in terms of hiring when they need workforce and laying them off when there is not much business.  In other words, once a worker is put on the roll call, whether the unit has business or not, it cannot ask him to go even if with an expectation that he may be recalled once the business returns.

However, there is some hope now for the SMEs with the Indian Labour Congress agreeing to discuss the issue threadbare at its forthcoming conference on May 17, to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The Prime Minister is also expected to call upon the labour unions to be more pragmatic towards the labour laws. Flexibility given to the SMEs in regard to employing of the labour would eventually create more employment opportunities as it improves the competitiveness of the industry and their productivity.

The meeting is also to discuss that the SMEs be given exemption from the labour laws and other social schemes and some of the rigid service conditions which have outlived by now and do not fit in the present conditions. For instance, putting women on night duty is need of the hour, subject of course to ensuring that security is taken care of.

The labour laws are very political sensitive issues and the political parties have not been able to muster enough courage to allow flexibility. Even in the Special Economic Zones,  the efforts to be liberal with the labour laws were scuttled. (KNN)