Panaji, Aug 2 (KNN) To bring gender equality at workplace, the Goa Assembly passed a bill which allows women in the industrial sector to work in the night shift.

Deputy Chief Minister, Chandrakant Kavlekar who moved an amendment to the Factories and Boilers Act, made it clear that women employees would not be forced to work at night.

“This bill gives gender equality to working women. We should not be controlling their working hours. We need to think with a broad mind,” the deputy chief minister said.

The bill seeks to allow women staff to work in night shifts in factories from 7 pm to 6 am. Obtaining the woman’s consent shall be mandatory for this purpose, said Deputy Chief Minister.

Speaking with KNN India, President of Goa State Industries Association (GSIA), Raj Kumar Kamat said “It is a welcome move that will give more flexibility to working women in state as long as proper safety measures are taken.”

This is actually something which is absolutely required because 50% of population was getting constrained in terms of flexibility, he added.

However, opposition MLAs including Congress’ Pratapsingh Rane, Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, Ravi Naik and MGP’s Sudin Dhavalikar demanded that the bill be referred to the selection committee.

Defending the bill, Kavlekar said many times women do not get promotions as they cannot work night shifts. “There is (until now) ban (on putting women on night shift) only in the private industry, but there is no ban in other industries like airport, hospitality and other sectors,” he added.