New Delhi: Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin has put on hold a controversial bill that in the name of competing globally and providing “flexibility” had been about making a 12-hour workday legal, going beyond the eight-hour workday. Alliance partners of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and trade unions had strongly opposed the move and termed it “anti-labour”.The Bill to amend the Factories Act of 1948 had been passed on the last day of the budget session of the assembly despite stiff opposition from most, including DMK allies Congress, Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi and Indian Union Muslim League, reports The Telegraph. The Hindu quoted Jean Dreze, development economist and member of the Economic Advisory Council as having told the newspaper that the Tamil Nadu government did not consult the Council before it passed the amendment to the Factories Act, 1948.The Council, apart from Dreze, includes Nobel laureate Esther Duflo, former Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan, former Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian, and former Union Finance Secretary S. Narayan. It was set up to advise Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on economic matters concerning the state.The Bill, now on hold, had inserted in a Section 65-A, exempting “any factory, or group or class or description of factories” from key clauses of the Factories Act dealing with daily working hours (which should not exceed 48 hours a week), the spread of working hours, intervals for rest and extra wages for overtime.The Telegraph reports that while labour welfare and skill development minister C.V. Ganesan and industries minister Thangam Thennarasu had tried to assuage anger in the House that the bill would not jeopardise “basic work hour norms” for industrial workers, nor their rights guaranteed under the Factories Act and “was only meant to make working hours flexible,” it cut no ice with the Opposition and allies opposing the move and the trade unions were not convinced.Ganesan had held that industry associations had been urging the state government for reforms to “make statutory provisions for flexible working hours” as it could benefit the industry and the economy, in particular women workers.Outside the Assembly, trade unions declared that an agitation would be imminent if the bill was withdrawn. Soon, the issue became bigger and threatened to cause chinks in the political alliance which the ruling DMK wants to keep intact ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.Chief minister Stalin held a meeting on Monday with all the major trade unions and government representatives. “The trade unions unanimously demanded that the amendment bill be withdrawn,” veteran CITU leader A. Soundararajan told the media.While software and IT industries “were already not covered under the Factories Act, but came under the Shops and Establishments Act”, he told reporters that the claim that 12-hour shifts would improve productivity was not valid as fatigue sets in after working for eight hours.Stalin said in a statement issued on Monday evening that in deference to the views expressed by various trade unions and political parties, “further action on the Factories (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Bill, 2023, is put on hold”. In February, neighbouring Karnataka succeeded in pushing a similar bill, calling for “flexibility” and a 12-hour working day. The amended law in Karnataka, which also drew trade union ire, reports The Indian Express, “allows women to work night shifts with adequate security and also allows overtime to extend from 75 hours to 145 hours in three months.”