Labour codes: The state must do what it has promised

India's government finally announced the implementation of the four labour codes passed by Parliament about five years ago, starting 21 November 2025.

- HIMANSHU

These four, namely the Code on Wages of 2019, Industrial Relations Code of 2020, Code on Social Security of 2020 and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code of 2020, were meant to rationalize 29 old labour laws by replacing them with new codes, as recommended in a 2002 report by the second National Commission of Labour set up in 1999. The objective was to simplify labour laws and make them effective—for the benefit of workers as well as employers.Reforming these laws has been part of the governance agenda of every successive government since 1991, when India's economy underwent broad reforms in various other domains. Given the multiplicity of labour laws enacted since independence, the idea of revising them was also to make them enforceable (or justiciable) and reflect the contemporary reality of changing labour relations. The four labour codes may be a step in that direction, but their effectiveness would critically depend on their enforcement on the ground.