Right direction, but the road is long

Mumbai in the 1970s and '80s was a warning written in soot.

- BHUVANA ANAND.

Mills and factories that had once powered the city were in lockouts or declared sick. India’s industrial licensing regime would not allow those firms to live. India’s labour laws would not allow those firms to die. While waiting for closure permissions from labour inspectors, job opportunities ossified. Rules that claimed to protect workers in practice, killed jobs and trapped capital.

This history of industrial disputes has cast a long shadow over every debate on labour reform. On November 21, India to great credit brought into force four labour codes, replacing 29 previous laws. The new codes promise a more coherent regime. But how far do these codes expand economic freedom for workers? Seen through that lens, the new regime has made excellent breaks with the past, but some challenges remain.

The most beautiful change is the law’s recognition of women as persons with agency. Women were kept out of whole occupations or pushed out of the workplace at sunset. The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 flips the presumption. Women can work in all establishments and in all kinds of work, including at night, albeit with consent and subject to safety conditions.