AICCTU will strongly oppose the amendments to the Bihar Industrial Planning (Standing Orders) Manual 1947 as reported by daily newspapers quoting the Labor Department. AICCTU has consistently opposed the Modi-Nitish governments’ decision to increase working hours from 8 to 12, abrogation of labor laws in 7 States and enslavement of workers. AICCTU will continue to oppose these anti-worker policies relentlessly.
AICCTU Secretary Ranvijay Kumar said that on the one hand Nitish Kumar says that the Covid-19 induced crisis for migrant workers will be solved by providing jobs for all workers within Bihar; but on the other hand the Labor Department is announcing such amendments which will create new problems for workers instead of generating employment. He said that such amendments would give a free hand to employers to exploit workers for increased profits. He further said that the 1947 Manual which the Labor Department is planning to amend was actually amended in November 2018 by the Bihar cabinet to include the provision of fixed term employment. At that time the Labor Minister had deceptively said that this would be very useful for workers. The people of Bihar should understand that the Chief Minister, Labor Minister and Labor Department are making contradictory statements on the same issue to confuse the people.
