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The Maharashtra government on Wednesday set the ball rolling on labour reforms.
It decided to amend the Factories Act, 1948, to encourage growth of small-scale industries (SSI). Women employees in these industrial units would be allowed to work between 7 pm and 6 am. The management of the units would have to ensure the security of women in the night shift.
Nearly 14,300 SSI units would be freed from inspector raj and about 190,000 new jobs are expected to be created in the state, with this move.
At present, smaller industries were excluded from the provisions of the Factories Act, which mandates safety guidelines and working conditions, applies to units with more than 10 workers with power supply and 20 workers without power supply. However, with the proposed amendment has changed the limit from 20 and 40 workers.
