Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Textiles Santosh Gangwar will discuss the provisions of the proposed New Textile Policy with States who will give their views on the proposals of a draft report on the New Textile Policy prepared by an expert committee which has already been circulated to them at the annual conference of State textiles ministers today.

Getting State Governments’ views on labour reforms is important as a number of important changes have been proposed in the textiles sector, said a Government official.

The proposed reforms include removing restrictions on women working in night shifts, allowing fixed term employment and revising overtime work hours. The Centre has also proposed keeping units employing up to 500 people outside the ambit of the Industrial Disputes Act so that they don’t have the responsibility of providing employment to workers in case a unit winds up.

The proposed policy also suggests giving a blanket exemption to export oriented units to allow contractual labour without any restriction.

Gangwar to also discuss the proposal of partnering with States for reengineering of existing schemes and policies such as the integrated textile parks, Technology Upgradation Fund Schemes and Integrated Processing Development Scheme.

As textiles exports contribute more than 13 percent to the country’s total exports. The State Ministers will also be asked to emphasize on ways to generate productive employment opportunity for the youth through the textile sector. Stress would be laid on inclusive and participative growth, developing skill, scale and speed, targeting zero defects and promoting ‘Make in India’ brand.