Karnataka notifies law banning night shift for women

BANGALORE: Amid the outcry from women's forums, including the State Women's Commission, against the law banning night shift for women, the Karnataka Government has notified it in its gazette.

After the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments (Amendment) Bill, 2007 received Governor TN Chaturvedi's assent on April 27, the state notified it on April 30 in a special gazette to give effect to the law, official sources said on Thursday.

Both the houses of the state legislature had passed the amendment bill, which bans women from working in night shifts in all establishments coming under the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1961.

Any violation by employers will attract imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months and fines ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000.

The sources said the Labour Department would initiate steps to notify the rules of the amended law in about a fortnight.

The government has, however, exempted IT and BT sectors and other essential services from the purview of the act.

There has been stiff resistance from women's organisations, who have demanded that the law be scrapped, describing it as 'discriminatory against women'.