Assam Assembly passes 36 bills as Opposition demands expert opinion on labour-related ones

The Assam Assembly on December 24 passed thirty six bills on the last day of the Winter Session of Assam Legislative Assembly. , Leader of Opposition Debebrata Saikia (Congress) said framing or amending any law is a long-drawn process, but with the government taking up so many bills together, the MLAs are hard-pressed for time to go through these in details. He said that the provisions sought to be amended deal mostly with the provisions that concern the workers.

“Experts and stakeholders in labour laws whom I have consulted have claimed that several proposed provisions are not in line with international conventions for labour welfare. I am not an expert on labour laws, but there are other members here who have more expertise.”, Saikia said. 

“We want that the labour-related laws be referred to a select committee for further discussion,” he added.

Supporting the demand, CPI(M) legislator Manoranjan Talukdar said ‘decriminalisation of labour laws is not acceptable’ and wider consultations are needed before these are passed by the House.

Sibsagar MLA Akhil Gogoi said that the amendments are serious and the committee should ponder over these before the Assembly okays the bills. He later staged a walk-out during discussion on the bills, alleging that he was denied a chance to present his views. 

Gogoi continued to remain in the House even after stating about his walk-out, leading the Speaker to direct the marshals to escort the MLA out.

 Congress MLA Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha said that a hike in the penalties will be problematic for the general people as their income has not increased in the same proportion as the fines are being raised. He also pitched for continuation of imprisonment for offences under the respective laws, which was also supported by another Opposition MLA Aminul Islam of the AIUDF.

Both of them argued that a jail term helps in rectifying a person and also serves as a greater deterrent against breaking any law than imposing a monetary penalty only. 
Ministers who presented the bills of their respective departments countered the Opposition by stating that provision for imprisonment for various offences is already available under IPC and CrPC. Chandra Mohan Patowary, Pijush Hazarika, Ashok Singhal and Jogen Mohan and others said decriminalisation was being done to reduce compliance burden and promote ease of doing business.

They also maintained that the hike in penalty will serve as a deterrent and the amount of increase was justified as it was being revised after a long gap. Each of the 36 bills– two new ones, 29 amendment bills and five repealing ones – was passed by voice votes.