THE FUTURE OF LABOUR

In his televised address to the nation on May 12, Prime Minister Narendra Modi looked past arguably more pressing questions to focus our attention on the broad-sweep reforms he had in mind to reshape the Indian economy.

- Kaushik Deka

A key area of reform, he told us, was labour. India’s labour laws have often been seen as a big impediment to economic progress. An attempt was made last year to recodify them, but it’s a work in progress and still mainly restricted to central laws.

Meanwhile, in an apparent attempt to resuscitate economic activity, and even in the face of a flight of labour from the country’s big industrial centres, several states have announced their own industry-friendly tweaks to labour laws. The desperation among the state governments is evident. The COVID-19 pandemic has severely dented the capacity of scores of industrial units, which face closure if not allowed to restructure their wage bills. The legal rejig in-laws, it is hoped, will give them the necessary stretch room to make adjustments and survive the crisis.

The most significant changes have been announced in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, but states like Rajasthan and Punjab, where the opposition Congress is in power, have also tweaked their labour laws. UP has passed an ordinance exempting businesses from the purview of most labour laws for the next three years. Only the laws on construction workers, bonded labour, deployment of women and children and timely payment of salaries have not been touched. In Rajasthan, MP, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Odisha and Goa, work shifts in factories have been increased from eight hours to 12, with provisions for overtime.