Hyderabad: Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya condemned Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao‘s statement on GST.
Reacting to KCR’s comments on GST, Dattatreya said that the Centre never resorts to unilateral decisions and it was wrong to blame the Central government. “GST comes under federal structure and all the states are part of the GST Council. In fact, the states have more say than the Centre in the Council,” he said while addressing a press conference here on Sunday.
Dattatreya also said that, the rates on construction materials like cement and steel have come down besides the interest rates offered by banks have also reduced.
“Hence, overall expenses on public works will also come down, he said. “I will also study the matter before meeting Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on the issues raised by the Telangana government”, he added.
He also informed that with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between ESIC and Directorate General Factory Advice Service & Labour Institutes (DGFASLI) for collaboration in the field of occupational health and prevention of occupational injuries and diseases, the ministry is committed to providing social security for the workers across the country.
He said that the MoU would help in spreading awareness for healthy working conditions, reduce the danger of diseases or injuries and provide good quality life for workers.
The MoU seeks to establish a mutual collaboration that will enhance Occupational Health of workers; reduce the occurrence of work related injuries and diseases. Special focus shall be paid to precarious working conditions in the formal and informal sectors.
The main focus is occupational health by establishing ‘DGFASLI-ESIC Occupational Health Training, Research & Development Centre’ (OHTRDC) at Regional Labour Institute, Faridabad followed by at other institutes located at Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Kanpur.
Dattatreya congratulated M. Venkaiah Naidu on his election to Vice-President with huge majority.
Dattatreya assured one Ravi, who complained on his wife’s plight in Bahrain will be discussed with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
The Centre will help to bring back his wife Manjula from Gulf, said Dattatreya. Earlier, Ravi complained the Minister that his wife was being tortured by her employers there. (INN)