The Union Government today introduced three bills related to labour laws, including on industrial relations in the Lok Sabha amid Opposition from the Congress and other parties. Labour Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar introduced the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 and the Code on Social Security, 2020. He withdrew the three bills that were introduced last year and introduced the three new ones.<br />''<br />''According to the Minister, over 29 labour laws have been merged into four codes and that one of them has already been passed. The Code on Wages Bill, 2019 was passed by Parliament last year.<br />'' <br />''Mr Gangwar noted that the government engaged in wider consultations over these bills with various stakeholders and that more than 6,000 comments were received online on the bills. These bills were later sent to a Standing Committee and 174 of its 233 recommendations have been accepted, the Minister told the members.<br />'' <br />''Congress leaders, Manish Tewari and Shashi Tharoor opposed the introduction of the bills. Mr. Tewari noted that the three bills are fundamentally changed versions of their earlier forms. He urged the Minister to withdraw them and hold wider consultations before introducing them. He said, the bills are a blow to the rights of workers.<br />'' <br />''Referring to the bill on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions, Mr. Tharoor said, it fails to have specific provisions to safeguard interests of the unorganized sector workers. He complained that there was no exclusive chapter on inter-state migrant workers. He also said that the bill is discriminatory since there is no specific provision for the welfare of women.<br />'' <br />''With respect to the industrial relations code, Mr. Tharoor said, it severely restricts the right of workers to strike and also allows State or Central Governments to amend the threshold for applicability relating to layoffs and retrenchment.<br />'' <br />''Opposing the bills, A. M. Arif of the CPI-M said, the bills should be sent to the Standing Committee. Earlier, N. K. Premachandran of the Revolutionary Socialist Party opposed withdrawal of these bills. Several members raised the matters of public importance during the Zero Hour.<br />'' <br />''Speaking in Parliament, the National Conference President and MP Farooq Abdullah advocated talks with Pakistan. He said, India can talk to China to defuse their border row, it can also speak to its other neighbour to deal with the situation at Jammu and Kashmir borders. Stating that Border skirmishes have been rising and people are dying, Mr Abdullah said that a way has to be found to deal with this.<br />'' <br />''As you are talking to China to attempt that it withdraws from the Ladakh border, we should also talk to the other neighbour to find a way to get out of this situation, he said. This led to strong protests from treasury benches in the house. The Srinagar MP also expressed his happiness at the findings of an Army inquiry into the killings of three men in Shopian in an encounter.<br />'' <br />''Mr. Abdullah said, Jammu and Kashmir has not seen any progress and spoke about authorities blocking 4G facilities in the Union Territory. He said, this goes against the interest of students and traders. He also conveyed his gratitude to Parliamentarians for speaking for him when he was under detention. Mr. Abdullah and many other leaders were put under detention by authorities last year after the Centre abrogated Article 370, which had given special powers to the erstwhile State and split Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories. He was released in March this year.<br />'' <br />''Making an intervention during the Zero Hour, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in Lok Sabha that the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan was not implemented in West Bengal as the State did not provide any data regarding migrant workers who returned to their native places during the COVID-19 lockdown. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on June 20 launched the employment scheme for migrant workers.<br />'' <br />''The Minister replied after the issue related to migrant labourers in West Bengal was raised by Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Mr. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.<br />'' <br />''The Finance Minister said that the 'Garib Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyaan' was implemented on a mission mode for 125 days in 116 districts of six States — Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Odisha — that received at least 25,000 returning migrant workers by May 30. She said, the West Bengal government did not provide any data about migrant workers, then how we can include West Bengal. We did not get information about whether over 25,000 migrant workers returned to any district of the State, she said, adding that it also needed to be considered if the State allowed them to return. She was apparently referring to the State government's initial opposition to trains carrying migrant workers to their homes. She also said after the launch of the scheme, some States like Tripura and Chhattisgarh had demanded the inclusion of new districts, but we could not.<br />'' <br />''A Lok Sabha member observed that there is a fear that if Hindi is pushed as the sole medium of communication, then it might lead to eventual decline of regional languages. Sumalatha Ambareesh, an Independent member from Karnataka, mentioned about the government's proposed three-language formula during the Zero Hour. A three-language formula has been proposed in the new National Education Policy. The member urged the Central Government to look into these issues and ensure that the country's previous past is preserved for a beautiful future. The house also took up The Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of certain provision) Bill for consideration and passage.<br />'' <br />''A Congress member in Lok Sabha has demanded a fair and transparent investigation into the gold smuggling case in Kerala, saying agencies should inquire into the conspiracy angle. Raising the matter during the Zero Hour, Hibi Eden, who is an MP from Ernakulam constituency, also alleged that the Kerala Government has been brutally attacking youths and women who were leading a peaceful protest on the issue. He said, as we all know the gold smuggling case in Kerala, where gold was smuggled in diplomatic baggage in which the Chief Minister's Office is directly involved. He further said that the agencies are investigating the case, and a fair and transparent inquiry is needed. He added that all those who are involved in this case should be brought to light. The conspiracy factor should be inquired, he said, urging upon the central government to direct the Kerala Governor to furnish a detailed report on the law and order situation and to have a joint investigation in this matter.<br />'' <br />''Raising the matter of Gorkhaland, Darjeeling MP Raju Bista requested the government to resolve the issue as early as possible.<br />''P. Ramulu of TRS demanded allowance for SC/ST youths who have lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He claimed that many SC/ST students are working under MNREGA and also selling fruits and vegetables.<br />'' <br />''Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur made an intervention in Lok Sabha to hit out at the Opposition over their allegations about lack of transparency in the PM CARES Fund and asserted that it is fully in line with laws and transparent. The fund was created to mobilise funds to meet the exigency caused by the coronavirus pandemic and everyone, from the rich to the poor, contributed voluntarily, he said.<br />''<br />''<span style="color: #222222;">Mr. Thakur said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi contributed his personal money worth Rs 2.25 lakh to provide initial corpus for the fund and the PM's mother also contributed. Even beggars and many poor people also contributed, he said. The fund has been set up as a public charitable trust and is fully transparent, he said, adding that the PM is its ex-officio chairman and Home Minister, Defence Minister and Finance Minister are its ex-officio trustees. Attacking Congress, he said its President was made a trustee of the Prime Minister Relief Fund which was audited by a person who was made a governor by the party's government earlier.</span>