WB Labour Welfare Fund (Amendment) Bill 2023 passed

Kolkata: The West Bengal Labour Welfare Fund (Amendment) Bill 2023 was passed in the state Assembly to withdraw the provisions of imprisonment for petty crimes associated with labour law violations and increase the monetary penalty for the owners.

“The Central government has been pressing for decriminalisation in respect of violation in labour laws and had accordingly sent a letter to the Chief Secretary a few months back to do the needful in this regard.

The Chief Secretary forwarded the letter to the Labour department asking it to take suitable measures in this regard. Accordingly, we have taken such steps and so the Bill was placed in the Assembly," state Labour minister Moloy Ghatak said.

The Centre had emphasised on Ease of Doing Business in the budget itself and the move is in line with the intention of the Centre, claimed Ghatak.

According to Ghatak, in recent years with the changes in technology and the business environment, various policies have been adopted to promote Ease of Doing Business to strike a balance between the rights of workmen and the demand of the industry to provide scope for new employment generation and thriving an opportune environment for the business in operation. The majority of the states in the country have already taken steps in this direction.

The Bill has also ushered in a change in the salary limit of the members of the Labour Welfare Board. Till date, those with a salary of Rs 1600 can be a part of the Board that has been enhanced to Rs 50,000.