---

On completion of two years of NDA Government regime, the Union Labour and Employment Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said that the trade unions are “slowly” coming on board to help the Ministry amend outdated labour laws. “Labour laws are archaic and do not meet the present needs of the society. More than 25 tripartite meetings are over. I am happy to say that many state governments are coming forward in a positive manner and trade unions are slowly in convinced mood but because of their political affiliation they are as it is,” said the Minister while addressing a press conference. Towards this Ministry is simplifying the 43 Labour Laws into 4 Labour Codes which aims to amalgamate and rationalize the provisions of these 43 Labour Laws. These are Labour Code on Wages, Labour Code on Industrial Relations, Labour Code on Social Security & Welfare and Labour Code on Safety & Working Conditions. “The reforms are for the welfare of the workers and will help employers in compliance and procedural norms,” he said. “Labour reform is a very complex issue. The previous government had not initiated any reform in the labour laws, but this government has covered a long distance,” Labour Secretary Shankar Aggarwal said. Talking about the EPF withdrawals, he said, “There will be no more taxation on EPF withdrawals. That file has been closed.’’ The government, after facing strong backlash from the salaried class, had in April decided to roll back the budget proposal that sought to create a pensioned society by discouraging full EPF withdrawal. “The rollback is forever,’’ Dattatreya clarified.