Labour and output
The DMK government’s move to amend the Factories Act, 1948 to increase daily working hours for labour — it is now on hold — is not worthy of what is called the ‘Dravidian model of governance’. That development economist Jean Drèze has been explicit in saying that the Tamil Nadu government did not consult the Economic Advisory Council, is a matter of concern (‘Tamil Nadu’, April 26). Looked at from the human angle, such an idea diminishes intrinsic human worth and constitutes an infringement of hard-won labour rights. Labour laws should not be inimical to the interests of the labouring classes. Overwork cannot be justified in the name of accelerating production. The need to attract investment or boost manufacturing cannot be met at the cost of health and dignity. Workers who live by their labour should not be made a casualty to the profit-making of employers (read rapacious corporate behemoths).
G. David Milton,
