Maharashtra cabinet clears amendment to Factories Act, 1948

State govt hopes to abolish inspector raj and create new jobs in small-scale industries

The Maharashtra government has finally decided to bite the bullet and carry out the much-awaited labour reforms.

At a meeting today, the state cabinet decided to amend the Factories Act, 1948, in a bid to encourage growth of small-scale industries (SSI). Nearly 14,300 small-scale units will be freed from the inspector raj and about 190,000 new jobs will be created in the state. 

At present, smaller industries may be excluded from the provisions of the Factories Act, 1948, which mandates safety guidelines and working conditions, applies to units with more than 10 workers in premises with power supply and 20 workers in premises without power. However, with the proposed amendment the limit has been increased from 20 and 40 workers.

Further, the condition with regard to prior approval of the management for overtime has been done away with. The government has proposed overtime of 115 hours from the present level of 75 hours to workers in SSI units.  

Moreover, women employees in these industrial units will now be allowed to work during 7 pm and 6 am which was not allowed under section 66 (1) of the Factories Act.