The state government has included the ESDM (electronic system design and manufacturing) industry in the lists of first schedule of Industrial Disputes Act 1947 paving way for the eligibility of ESDM units to be declared as public utility services.
"If an industry is declared as public utility services, neither the labourers nor the management can go for strikes and lock outs respectively", an official said.
It is a preventive measure to curb unwarranted strikes and lock outs in that particular industry. However, it is upto the individual management to apply the government for declaration of public utility services. The declaration of public utility services will ensure a work culture without disturbance of agitation, added the official.In a recent notification Labour & Employees' State Insurance department has added ESDM as the 37th industry to the first schedule of the act. The state government is empowered under the sub section (1) of section 40 of the act to do so.
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The industries list of the first schedule already included IT(information technology)/ITes (enabled services), biotechnology , agro based and marine based processing units, electronics and telecommunications, export oriented units, infrastructure projects including industrial parks and SEZs (special economic zones) among others.
The inclusion of the sector is in line with the commitment made in the newly announced Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Policy 2014 where it is promised that the state government may declare IT/ ITes / ESDM units as public utility services under the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.
Officials said that the inclusion of the ESDM industry is paramount as the state government is betting big on the ESDM sector to attract investments.The state IT department has already finalised Strategic Roadmap for Development of ESDM Sector in Odisha for grabbing the opportunities to be thrown by the sunrise sector in India.
The sector is poised to generate cumulative revenue of Rs 18,800 crore revenue in Odisha by 2024, as per an estimate with an investment of Rs 7,340 crore pumped into the sector in three phases to realise the projected revenue. The sector is also expected to generate about 60,000 jobs in the next 10 years.
