Jamshedpur, Jan. 31: The best brains from the state’s premier business school will tap their “knowledge pool” to make industry more labour-friendly. The effort is part of the state government’s initiative to introduce labour reforms for the benefit of the unorganised sector.

The state labour ministry has asked the Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), to conduct a comprehensive study of the state’s industrial dispute and trade union Acts to make them more worker-friendly with emphasis on social security. The proposal was accepted by the B-school at a high-level meeting today.

At the meeting, which lasted for nearly two hours on the XLRI campus, labour department officials headed by minister Raghuvar Das suggested that the XLRI should study the Industrial Disputes Act, the Trade Union Act and the problems faced by the employees in the unorganised sector.

When contacted, Das said the labour department was committed to the welfare of employees in the unorganised sector, who, according to him, were the worst-hit due to the “indifference and apathy” of employers.

“We have asked the XLRI to study the social security aspects in the unorganised sector, besides studying the industrial dispute and trade union Acts. The B-school authorities have shown a positive response and agreed to carry out the exercise,” said Das. The survey was expected to be completed in a month.

Das said a team from the labour department, comprising the labour secretary and the labour commissioner, would tour Kerala and Maharashtra from February 2 to study the labour laws there.

“We will review labour laws of both the states to help formulate a labour policy and the trade union Act. We have approached the XLRI as they have the necessary expertise in the field of industrial relation. We hope that the inputs of XLRI would help frame an effective labour policy,'' he said.

The labour ministry has also constituted a high-level committee headed by the labour commissioner to review the present labour and trade union laws.

According to Das, the committee’s recommendation would also be taken care of while framing the labour policy or for that matter making the necessary amendments in labour laws.

Sources said at the meeting, the issue of creating a separate labour welfare fund also came up for discussion with XLRI authorities, who have welcomed the proposal and agreed to include the issue in their report.

Others present at the meeting included labour secretary A.K. Sinha, labour commissioner Dhirendra Mishra, deputy labour commissioner, East Singhbhum Akhileshwar Paswan and the XLRI team was represented by Dean, Academics, E.M. Rao.