The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) has welcomed the move to make labour laws more flexible and feels that the textile ministry has taken a positive step.
The ministry has recently moved cabinet note for limited amendment to the Industrial Disputes Act (IDA) for letting textile export units to conditionally hire labour on a temporary basis. The ministry also proposed to increase the working hours from 48 to 60 per week and daily working hours from 9 to 12.
?We have been asking for flexibility in the labour laws since many years and have even submitted many memoranda for the same. Rigid labour laws have constrained large scale investment, especially in the garment sector, given its seasonal nature,? said Vijay Agarwal, chairman, AEPC, in a release.
The proposed changes in the IDA would greatly help in improving the economies of scale in the apparel exporting units, where average sizes are around 150 machines per unit whereas Chinese units have 600 machines per unit on an average.
?Flexibility in labour laws would also address another critical issue – that of productivity of workers, which is presently lower than many of our competitors. This has diluted our wage-cost advantage. AEPC hopes for speedy implementation of the proposal,? he said.
It would also have a very positive impact on the employment generation capacity of this sector. The social dimension of the employment generated by apparel sector is also important. The employment is gender-friendly with over 38% or more of labour force being female, and rising day by day. The apparel industry presently employs over 5 million workers.