The hard-working man, however, is yet to make a mark as a labour minister. He came at a time when the Left prevented the government from carrying out any labour reforms and now that the Left is no longer in the picture, there's hardly any time to push any legislation.
His pet bill -- to provide social security to unorganised sector workers -- also hangs in balance and there are only a few days in the upcoming Parliament session to pass the bill.
He has maintained the Provident Fund interest rate at 8.5 per cent and introduced a few insurance and pension schemes for poor workers. But these are all inadequate alternatives to the much-needed thrust in the labour sector -- both in terms of their welfare and addressing industry's concerns.
Fernandes had some plans to implement a hire-and-fire policy which would have allowed the employers trim their workforce at times of crisis but after giving much better compensation to the sacked workers. There hasn't been much progress in this either.
While the Left didn't allow him to do what he wanted, Fernandes resisted its pressure as well. Despite the Left's pressure on the unorganised sector bill, Fernandes refused to make the changes they wanted. The always-angry labour unions, though, also prefer Fernandes to his predecessor, K Chandrasekhar Rao. If only because he's always available.
Image: Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes (left) talks with Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia. Raveendran/AFP/Getty Images
Also read: India's most admired entrepreneurs
Advertisement
