Compliance cost of labour laws should not demotivate biz: Govt

Highlighting the efforts taken by the government to improve ease of doing business in India, Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya today said that compliance cost should not act as a demotivator for businesses.
Dattatreya was speaking at a session at the G20 Labour and Employment Ministerial Meeting in Beijing, the Labour Ministry said in a statement.
The concept of decent work covers the fundamental and principal right of workers, employment, social protection and dialogue, Dattatreya was quoted as saying in the statement.
To ensure these rights, India has a robust legislative framework including in it plenty of labour laws and a strong institutional mechanism for their implementation and enforcement, he added.

"At the same time, the compliance cost should be such that it does not become a demotivator for businesses to flourish," Dattatreya said.
To make the system more relevant in the present work environment, India is in the process of simplification through effective use of technology, he said.

The idea is to improve the service delivery to promote the ease of doing business, which is an essential prerequisite for creating jobs that are decent and empower the workers while raising their overall well-being, he added.
He further said that provision and enhancement of social security to the workers in unorganised sector as well as the deprived and vulnerable segments of the population has been the corner stone of the Indian government, he said.

"Our policies aim at preventing deprivation, assuring basic minimum income and providing protection from uncertainties. We are moving from scheme-based approach to rights-based entitlements in the area of social security," he explained.
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Yojana (PMSY) are two such initiatives that aim to provide universal social cover, the Minister noted.
PMJDY is the biggest step to ensure financial inclusion and Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) of government subsidies and other entitlements through opening of bank accounts, he said.
Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Yojana is providing insurance coverage for life, old age pension and accidents including permanent disablement to all, Dattatreya added.

"We are strengthening the service delivery system for our already robust institutional mechanism available to organised workforce. New reforms under the health reforms agenda aims at improving medical care for beneficiaries through technological interventions such as IT and mobile," he said.
The portability of social security benefits has been extended to 6.57 million people through universal account number, the Minister said.
"We are progressively bringing the new categories of workers from informal sector into the fold of institutional framework available to formal sector workers," he added.