May 1, 2018
Ease of Doing Business: Introducing e-governance and self-regulation to make things easier
Several path-breaking reforms have been initiated by the Bengal Government to bring about norms for easier conducting of business activities. The policy of Ease of Doing Business basically envisages creating a conducive atmosphere for businesses to grow.
Employing methods of e-governance has been one the primary methods to achieve the aims of Ease of Doing Business. In fact, e-governance has been applied across all departments to bring about speed and transparency in activities. Another important method is bringing about self-regulatory mechanisms.
In both of the above, and in several other cases, the Labour Department has played a leading role. The reforms introduced by the department have helped it implement 106 of the 108 items in the Ease of Doing Business matrix, making it one of the best-performing departments of the State Government, and one of the best-performing Labour Departments in the country as well.
Ease of Doing Business: Some of the ways regulatory burden has been reduced
Policy of self-certification in terms of inspections norms and risk profiling for shops, establishment and units introduced; this was among the most liberal policies in the country
Scheme of self-certification for boilers and economisers initiated, and a scheme of third-party inspections introduced
Granting of licenses to factories enhanced from one year to a maximum of 15 years, depending on the type of business
Ease of Doing Business: Awards for e-governance
SKOCH Smart Governance Award 2017: The Labour Department bagged five awards and four Orders of Merit from a field of 500 strong participants – Platinum Award for Overall Excellence, Platinum Award and Order of Merit for Ease of Doing Business, Platinum Award and Order of Merit for Inspection Reforms in Labour Commissionerate, Gold Award and Order of Merit for Yuvashree scheme (under the category of Service Delivery), and Gold Award and Order of Merit for Samajik Suraksha Yojana (under the category of Labour Reforms).
CSI Nihilent e-Government Award 2016-17: The Labour Department bagged the award for Ease of Doing Business (through e-governance)
The Labour Department has also become the first department of the State Government to have fully Wi-Fi-enabled offices (offices located in the New Secretariat Building). The State Government has allocated money specially for other e-governance initiatives and in enabling other digital reforms.
