MP labour law changes: Relaxed licence norms for contract workers

Recognition of trade unions for collective bargaining no longer possible for key industrial sectors

While companies will be able to take a licence for hiring contract workers for a longer duration, recognition of trade unions for collective bargaining will no longer be possible for key industrial sectors, including automobile and textiles, in Madhya Pradesh.

According to a notification issued by the state government on May 5, as many as 11 categories of industries will be exempt from the Madhya Pradesh Industrial Relations (MPIR) Act of 1961. This includes textile, leather, cement, iron and steel, electrical goods, sugar, electricity, public motor transport, engineering including manufacture of motor vehicles, among others.
 

The state government has said