CII urges government to tweak labour laws

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has asked the government to make some minor changes to the labour laws to help small and medium firms.

M Lakshminarayan, Chairman, CII (Southern Region) & Joint Managing Director, MICO "� Bosch today said that CII had been meeting ministers regarding the issue.

The industry body has made 7-8 proposals for minor changes in the labour laws before the government.

"We are not talking about big changes like the laws regarding hiring and firing. Instead, we are talking about minor changes like laws related to overtime," Lakshminarayan said.

"There are a number of industries like textile and IT, which are doing extremely well and require these changes so that they function smoothly," he added.

The CII also said they were working with the government on public policies and other issues like bridging the skills gap and the power problems in southern states.

Lakshminarayan is stepping down as the Chairman, CII (SR) today. He will be succeeded by Pradipta K Mohapatra, President and Chief Executive (IT & Telecom Business Sector), RPG Enterprises.

At its annual meeting (southern region) the CII also called for a greater focus on ethical business practices. The CII said that a market economy was one of the most effective ways to make companies adopt better business practices.

Getting a larger part of the population to be a part of the market economy and making effective use of the RTI Act will make companies less corrupt, R Seshasayee, president of Confederation of Indian Industries, and managing director of Ashok Leyland Ltd said.

"It is the ethics of the company which will attract both customers and shareholders. Today companies have an obligation to ensure the survival of society and the environment. We need to raise the bar on business ethics and values to be able to lead from the front," Nandan M Nilekani, CEO & Managing Director, Infosys Technologies Ltd said at the meeting.