Delhi govt directs labour dept to allow women to work night shifts with consent

New Delhi: Delhi govt has directed the labour department to make necessary changes in laws to allow women to work night shifts, but only with their consent.

Officials said the directions were issued during a meeting chaired by lieutenant governor VK Saxena, which was also attended by chief minister Rekha Gupta, some of her colleagues in the council of ministers, and top city bureaucrats. The meeting aimed to review the status and progress of various aspects related to the flagship schemes, ‘ease of doing business' and ‘maximum governance - minimum government'.

Officials mentioned that the previous Delhi govt gave its nod to do away with section 66(1)(b) of the Factories Act of 1948. This section stated that no woman shall be required or allowed to work in any factory except between the hours of 6 am and 7 pm. The govt also approved the draft of the Delhi Occupational Safety , Health and Working Conditions Rules, 2023, which allowed women to work during night shifts. However, these provisions were never implemented on the ground.

Saxena stated that restrictive and archaic laws, processes, and regulatory regimes hampered and discouraged businesses and economic activities. LG and the chief minister asserted that progress during the last 11 years was "far from satisfactory" and that difficulty in doing business led to a situation where industries and businesses shifted to other states. They issued a slew of directions to re-engineer the govt processes.

Officials said the labour department was also directed to ensure all safeguards by amending the Delhi Shops and Establishment Act and by issuing suitable notifications under the Factories Act. It was also directed to amend the Delhi Shops and Establishment Act to increase the threshold of the minimum number of employees from one to 10 for the applicability of the Act and to allow shops/establishments to work 24x7. Directions were also issued to increase the threshold of workers from 100 to 200 in the Industrial Dispute Act for seeking permission for closure.

LG and CM asked the fire department to empanel agencies for a third-party audit. "Large commercial and industrial establishments may be allowed to get NOC on the audit certificate of empanelled agencies. Small establishments may be given an option for third-party audit. An expression of interest can be floated immediately," the official said. It was also stressed that the Delhi Pollution Control Committee should reduce the time to give consent to operate to 20 days, after which it should be a deemed approval, and should allow self-certification for MSME in both green and white industries.

The revenue department has been asked to give a fresh look at section 81 and 33 of the Delhi Land Reforms Act, which make the transfer and sale of agricultural land and mutation almost impossible. The Information Technology Department was instructed to make a single-window portal for all kinds of NOCs.