The Utkal Chamber of Commerce & Industry Ltd (UCCIL) in collaboration with All-India Organization of Employers (AIOE) and supported by ILO had organized an Awareness Session for MSMEs on “Labour Laws and Workforce-related Issues” on Saturday, December 10, 2022 at 6 PM in the Conference Hall of UCCIL. All the Directors of the chamber and many prominent members of the chamber participated in the awareness session.
Shri Brahma Mishra, President, UCCIL, in his opening address said labour laws need to be more conducive to the MSME sector, having remained underprivileged as far as supply-resources and man-power resources are concerned. He welcomed Chief Guest for the evening Dr N Thirumala Naik, IAS, Labour Commissioner, Government of Odisha, Shri P K Gupta, Joint Director & HOO, MSME DI, Cuttack, Sri Biraja Prasad Tripathy, Advocate and labour laws expert to the seminar.
Mr. Arvind Francis, Executive Director, AIOE and senior representative from New Delhi had come down personally to set up the agenda for the session. He stated that there are approximately 63 million MSME in India but unfortunately most of them fall under informal economy and operate at micro levels. These challenges and inconsistencies sadly lead to asymmetry in labour market regulation, increasing burden of documentation and legal hassles, lack of understanding of labour laws, poor workforce management practices and hence, extremely limiting effects in lives needing them.
The Labour Commissioner Sri Naik harped on ease of doing business amidst the cumbersome and complicated paraphernalia of compliance requirements for MSMEs under labour laws. He said he was seriously working on the numerous laws, clauses, sections and sub-sections in the labour Laws. He said his immediate concern was the issues pertaining to the ladies working in the factories, especially in the night shifts, in the new setting-up of Small and Medium Enterprises in the state.
Sri A. K. Sharda, Honourary Secretary, UCCIL in his concluding address expressed his gratitude and hope for new roadways into the surge work-force regulations in the Small and Micro Enterprises in the country.
