Chandigarh: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Tuesday said that the state government would bring a Bill in the next Assembly session to amend the labour laws, while noting that labourers should be paid through cheques rather than cash to prevent embezzlement of money.


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Speaking at the concluding day of the two-day winter session of the Assembly here today, Khattar opined that wages of every labourer should be paid either through cheque or deposited directly into their bank accounts.


With this view, the government plans to get the Payment of Wages Act 1936 amended, he informed.


Under the existing provision of the Act, those labourers whose monthly wages are less than Rs 18,000, payment has to be made in cash which leaves scope for embezzlement, he pointed out.


The Chief Minister reminded the members of the House that his party had made a promise in the party election manifesto that minimum wages of labourers would be raised to Rs 300 per day.


Treading the path of "Antodaya" as shown by Pt Deendayal Upadhyaya, it was decided to announce a hefty increase in the minimum wages of labourers on his birth anniversary on September 25.


"From November 1, 2015, we have increased the monthly minimum wages of the unskilled labourers to Rs 7,600 which amounts to Rs 300 per day," he said.


Similarly, the minimum monthly wages of the highly skilled labourers have been increased from Rs 6,537 to Rs 9,700 with an increase of 45 per cent.


Khattar said that there was also a proposal to bring an amendment in the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. Under this Act, a unit employing 100 or more workers must take permission from the government before resorting to any lay-off, retrenchment or closure.


The government has a proposal to raise the limit from 100 workers to 300 workers, he added.


Meanwhile, the Haryana Chief Minister also said that meetings of Gram Sabhas would be held at least four times in a year to ensure maximum participation of villagers in rural development. These meetings would be held on pre-determined written agenda.


The state government wants each Gram Sabha to hold detailed discussion with the villagers and send two or three major problems to the state government which should be redressed so that these could be taken up on a priority basis, he said.


In order to ensure quality in the development works, maintain transparency and eradicate corruption, the state government is also going to adopt the concept of Social Audit.