Labour reforms in haste a bad idea, says ILO India director

Says it can lead to labour unrest

Bringing labour law reforms in haste is not a good idea, according to Tine Staermose, director of International Labour Organization's (ILO) decent work team for South Asia and country office for India.

On Rajasthan Assembly passing four labour amendment Bills recently, Staermose said: "Rushing through such things is a bad idea. It can lead to labour unrest. Investment is a short-sighted way of approaching such reforms."

She was talking to Business Standard on the sidelines of Confederation of Indian Industry's third industrial relations summit here on Thursday.

According to Staermose, the main issue is that the changes in labour laws should be done after holding extensive tripartite consultations.

"It is true that the labour laws are outdated, but the industries do not comply with the existing norms (either). They should comply before demanding labour law restructuring," she said.