The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Sunday criticised the NDA government’s plan to amend labour laws claiming that the move was in line with the current dispensation’s efforts to favour the rich at the cost of the poor.
Articulating the party’s opposition to labour law reforms at the end of the two-day Polit Bureau meeting here, a statement issued by the CPI(M) said such changes would remove the safeguards for workers which were not being implemented properly to begin with.
Referring to the amendments proposed for Rajasthan in the Industrial Disputes Act, Contract Labour Act and Factories Act, the statement said these changes would deal a blow to safeguards pertaining to retrenchment and rights of contract workers.
Besides reiterating the party’s position on the Railway Budget and the General Budget, the Polit Bureau said the increase of Foreign Direct Investment in defence production to 49 per cent would give foreign arms companies a controlling stake in defence production companies, which would be detrimental to national sovereignty. Besides, the entry of U.S. arms companies into the sector would further increase New Delhi’s dependence on Washington for its strategic interests.
The statement also criticised the Narendra Modi government for refusing to condemn Israeli aggression in Gaza, its proposed disinvestment of shares in nationalised banks and public sector enterprises, its pursuance of the United Progressive Alliance government’s policy of de-regularising petroleum prices and “misusing” the office of Governor for its narrow partisan ends.
