AMTUC appeals

IMPHAL, Nov 25: Welcoming the four labour codes introduced by the India Government recently, the All Manipur Trade Unions Council (AMTUC) has called for the establishment of a Labour Court and Industrial Tribunal in Manipur.
In a press release, the AMTUC lauded the Labour Ministry for rationalizing 29 existing labour laws and implementing the four labour codes for the welfare of workers.
In the face of such a positive development, AMTUC pointed out that there is no Labour Court in Manipur and no proper Industrial Tribunal.
The AMTUC statement asserted that for many months, the High Court of Manipur has not been successful in nominating a Presiding Officer for the Labour Court, which handles one or two labour cases in a year at most.
Highlighting the poor state of the Labour Department, which functions as the Industrial State Relation Machinery, AMTUC has questioned if the benefits of the 4 labour codes will reach the workers in Manipur.
As an example, AMTUC claimed that the Secretariat Labour Department has not been successful in drafting the rules of The Manipur Shop and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2021 which was supposed to go into effect from June 29, 2021.
As a result, many workers have been unable to register their shops and failed to secure bank loans.
Shining a light on various alleged shortcomings of the Secretariat Labour Department, AMTUC said that the Department has many pending files of conciliation proceedings under the Industrial Dispute Act, 1947; it is unable to produce proper documents to show which authorities are responsible for the different labour laws and it has failed to set up a Labour Court and Industrial Tribunal.
In view of such circumstances, AMTUC has appealed to the Office of the Manipur Governor to look into the situation while raising doubts if the benefits of the four labour codes will reach the workers of Manipur otherwise.
It also questioned if the Secretariat Labour Department has made any contributions for the betterment of Manipuri workers.