Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday unveiled a new initiative on labour reforms -- dubbed Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Shramev Jayete – aimed at establishing “Ease of Doing Business”.   During the announcement, the PM emphasised that ease of doing business was imperative for the success of the “Make in India” programme announced by him earlier.

One of the results of the Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Shramev Jayete scheme will be the end of “Inspector Raj”. Under the new scheme, the discretionary powers of inspectors have been greatly curbed – they will now not be allowed to come down on companies at will. Rather, a computerised system based on objective criteria will direct inspectors to specific inspections. After the inspection, the inspectors have to file their report within 72 hours, and cannot later change their reports.

Amongst the various schemes introduced by Modi is a single Shram Suvidha Portal through which a single self certified form can be filled by employers covering 16 central government labour laws; and an Universal Account Number (UAN) facility for about 2 million EPFO subscribers for portability of PF funds on switching jobs.

“In our country, only white collar jobs are considered good,” Modi said further. “We have to change our perceptions and give respect to labour.”

The PM laid emphasis on skilling the youth and creating employment and presented a revamped apprenticeship scheme.

The new labour reforms, the PM felt would contribute towards “Ease of Business” which in turn would increase manufacturing and boost the “Make in India” effort. This has been described by the government as “A new national programme designed to facilitate investment, foster innovation, enhance skill development, protect intellectual property, and build best-in-class manufacturing infrastructure.”