Chhattisgarh relaxes labour laws, will benefit MSMEs

The micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Chhattisgarh will get respite from the regular inspections conducted by the competent authorities in the facility.

The state government has relaxed the labour law that will help MSMEs to avoid regular inspection from labour department officials. Under the new norms, routine inspection in the facility will not be conducted by the labour department inspector. Instead, the industry will file a third-party certificate to underline that industrial and labour norms are implemented in the unit.

Earlier, inspectors would conduct surprise inspections in units even without the knowledge of their superiors. This resulted in serious irregularities and corruption in the system. The commerce and industry ministry has come out with the suggestion that a third-party certification should be made effective in the units instead of regular inspection by the officials.

“The Chhattisgarh government studied the proposal and decided to implement it in the state,” a senior official in the Department of Labour said. The development is also a part of the ease-of-doing business exercise, he said, adding that the industry will be required to submit the third-party certificate issued by the authorised person on-line in department’s portal by June 30.

The state government has, however, failed to convince industrialists on the issue. “The department has neither issued any notification nor has it given directives to the departments concerned,” Chhattisgarh Laghu evam Sahayak Udyog Sangh president Harish Kedia said. There are different departments involved in the inspection and hence the government should issue directives to each department, he said.

There is neither proper notification issued by the state government on the issue nor does it have a clear policy for its implementation, Kedia added.