By IANS
New Delhi : More women employees in India will be allowed to work night shifts with the cabinet Thursday approving amendments to the law on the issue.
“The cabinet approved the introduction of the Factories (Amendment) Bill 2005 in parliament. This bill is pending in the Lok Sabha since Aug 16, 2005,” Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi told reporters.
“It aims at amending Section 66 of the Factories Act, 1948. This amendment will provide flexibility in the matter of employment of women during night hours,” he added while briefing reporters after a cabinet presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
“This would open avenues for women in factories and establishments which have so far refrained from employing women on the plea that they do not have the permission to do so,” the minister pointed out.
“Already women managers, technical staff and health workers are exempted from the purview of Section 66 of the Factories Act, 1948, which prohibits women being retained for night duties,” Dasmunsi said.
“The International Labour Organisation (ILO) had adopted convention number 89 in 1948 which prohibits employment of any women in any public or private industrial undertaking during the night hours in all the countries, including India, who are signatory to this convention,” said the minister.
“India ratified this Convention on Feb 27, 1950. It obliges the member countries to enforce the condition, subject to certain exemptions, suspensions and reductions of the norm in clearly defined cases,” he added.
“But it does not apply to women holding responsible positions of a managerial or technical character or to women employed in health and welfare services who are not ordinarily engaged in manual work.
“In June 1990 the General Conference of the ILO adopted a protocol relating to Convention 89. The amended ILO protocol allows signatory countries to frame their national laws and regulations to modify the duration of the night shift or to introduce exemptions from the prohibition within certain limits,” said Dasmunsi.
“The proposed amendment will help the government enable industrial undertakings and other establishments to put women on night shifts,” he added.