By IANS,
New Delhi : Delay in labour reforms hampers employment generation in the automobile component sector, the nodal agency for the Indian auto component industry said Tuesday.
“We believe that employment will get a boost by labour reforms which is the need at the moment,” Srivats Ram, president, Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) told reporters on the sidelines of an industry event here.
According to Ram, the slow pace of labour reforms hampers the huge opportunity for the country’s workforce to be employable in the sector.
“We currently employ around a million people directly and another million indirectly and this number is expected to double in the coming time,” Ram said.
For this to happen, reforms are needed, he said.
ACMA further said that the industry was looking forward to a flexible labour policy and that its views on the same are being represented in front of the human resource and labour committees of the planning commission for the twelfth five year plan.
“We want a policy that allows us to adjust our work-form as per market economy. In the medium-to-long term there will be ample employment opportunities in the sector and there should not be any uncertainty that it will be a hire and fire policy types,” Ram said.
The Indian auto component industry currently has 50 percent of its employees as permanent and the other half on a consultant basis.
“We want this 50 percent permanent number to be maintained and even grow as we spend a lot of money on training our manpower but there is a need of flexibility here,” Arvind Kapur, ACMA vice president said.
Commenting on the recent labour troubles in the auto sector, Kapur said there is a need for better understanding and cooperation between the management and the labour.
“We have a very young and aspiring workforce. There needs to be better understanding between both the sides,” Kapur added.