Assam latest to go for labour reforms, plans raising work hours by 50%

Unlike other BJP-ruled states, it isn't doing away with most existing laws, but seeks to introduce fixed-term employment to facilitate direct hiring of contract labour by firms

The Assam government has proposed a set of changes to labour laws, becoming the latest entrant in the list of States taking such a step in a bid to boost investment at a time when economic activities have come to a grinding halt due to the novel coronavirus.

However, unlike the other Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led governments, Assam has not proposed doing away with most labour laws for a certain number of years.

It has proposed introducing fixed-term employment to help both workers and industries, and seeks to take more firms out of the ambit of laws governing factories and