Jamshedpur: Jharkhand Bar Council and Jamshedpur Bar Association today organized a national seminar on labour law at Rajendra Vidyalaya auditorium. The chief guest of the programme was the Supreme Court Justice SJ Mukhopadhyaya.
In his address, Justice Mukhopadhyaya said there were altogether 44 labour laws in the country at present. Most of the laws have become obsolete and needed amendment in keeping with the changing times and needs. He said that no amendment had been made in the labour laws since the year 1952. The amendment proposals are pending in the Rajya Sabha, he said.
The SC judge further said that the demands of the labour unions were justified in many cases. He however said that caution should be exercised while making amendments so as to make sure that the interest of workers were not jeopardized.
The chief guest stressed the need for including women while considering the interests of workers in the country to ensure gender equality. He said women were still deprived of the opportunity to work at night unlike in Rajasthan where women are allowed to work at night.
Also present on the occasion, Jharkhand High Court judge Justice DN Patel said around 94 per cent of workers in the country were unorganized. He said there was an urgent need to bring equality among the workers. He said the workers should be provided benefits of the various government schemes in the country.
Other dignitaries present on the occasion included Justice RR Prasad, district judge Anant Vijay Singh, HC Mishra, Jharkhand Bar Council chairman Rajeev Ranjan, vice chairman Rajesh Kumar Shukla, Prakash Jha, RN Mishra, DC Dr Amitabh Kaushal, SSP AV Homkar, Niranjan Prasad Sao, Vishwanath Rath, Devashish Jyotishi, Rameshwar Prasad, Arun Ojha and MP Banerjee.