Issue Tamil translation of three labour rules, urges Panneerselvam

It is hard for workers and labour unions to read them, says the AIADMK leader

I AIADMK coordinator O. Panneerselvam on Thursday urged Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to release the Tamil version of the three draft rules recently notified by the State government’s Labour Department — Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (Tamil Nadu) Rules, 2022, Industrial Relations (Tamil Nadu) Rules, 2022 and Code on Wages (Tamil Nadu) Rules, 2022.

In a statement, Mr. Panneerselvam contended hat it was hard for workers and labour unions to read through these rules, each of which ran over 50 or 100 pages and comprehend the contents in them. “The Tamil version of any rule notified must be released along with the English version,” the former Chief Minister said.

The Union Ministry of Labour and Employment has consolidated a total of 29 central labour laws into these three rules. Though the State government notified the draft of these three codes in the gazette on April 11, the Tamil translation of these were not released, he pointed out.

Even during a consultation organised by the Commissioner of Labour over these three rules last month, the Tamil translation were not provided and the labour unions were disappointed. They said they would be able to comprehend the contents only if the Tamil version was provided to them, he pointed out.