WHY LABOUR LAW REJIG IS NO REFORM?
Concerns with the existing Labour Laws in India The Labour law in India is rigid, and restricts mobility. The list of laws that govern India’s workforce is itself formidably large—at least 40 central laws and more than a 100 state-level acts and regulations. The Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946 goes to the extent of […]
GETTING CASH TRANSFERS OUT OF A JAM
Introduction The Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile (sometimes referred to as: JAM trinity) has been propounded as a dream cash-transfer infrastructure for India. It was born in chapter 3 of the Economic Survey 2015, titled “Wiping every tear from every eye: The JAM number trinity solution”. An illusion and its fading The original formulation, in 2015, mentioned two […]
RIDING ROUGHSHOD OVER STATE GOVERNMENTS
Introduction During the lockdowns the Centre has issued guidelines from time to time, ostensibly under the Disaster Management Act of 2005, containing varying restrictions on public activity and commerce which the States are expected to enforce. The Centre directs the State governments to scrupulously enforce every new set of guidelines, with the States ONLY being […]
THE NEED FOR A SECOND CHAMBER: BICAMERAL LEGISLATURE
Introduction The Rajya Sabha came into being on April 3, 1952, and had undergone severe prenatal scrutiny in the Constituent Assembly. History of Formation of Bicameral Structure in India The central legislature that came into being under the Government of India Act, 1919 was bicameral with a Council of States and a Legislative Assembly. The membership and […]
PLAYING OUT LIVE, A NARRATIVE OF DISCRIMINATION
Key insights into migration The government gave a tentative estimate of there being 10 crore migrant workers in India but admitted to many being largely undocumented and unregistered as workers. The last National Sample Survey Office migration survey, which was published more than 20 years ago, showed that between 1992-93 to 2007–08, the proportion of migrant households […]
EQUAL FREEDOM AND FORCED LABOUR
Introduction Quote B.R. Ambedkar therefore argued that fundamental rights must also “eliminate the possibility of the more powerful having the power to impose arbitrary restraints on the less powerful by withdrawing from the control he has over the economic life of the people”. Labour rights The 1931 Karachi Declaration and Bill of Rights expressly placed labour […]
CONTEMPT FOR LABOUR: ON DILUTION OF LABOUR LAWS
Introduction It is amoral and perverse on the part of some States to address this need, for revival of business and economic activity, by granting sweeping exemptions from legal provisions aimed at protecting labourers and employees in factories, industries and other establishments. What actions have states taken? Madhya Pradesh will be allowing units to be […]
BUBONIC PLAGUE LEADING TO EPIDEMIC DISEASES ACT
Introduction The Centre amended the Epidemic Disease Act, 1897, making attacks on healthcare workers a cognisable, non-bailable offence, on March 2020. The colonial-era Act empowers the state governments to take special measures and prescribe regulations in an epidemic, defines penalties for disobedience of these regulations, and provides for immunity for actions taken under the Act […]
A ROADMAP FOR MANUFACTURING
Current Situation Within the manufacturing sector MSMEs are the hardest hit, with many of them getting close to bankruptcy. At a global level, there is a very clear indication that companies that are doing business in China are now looking to consider other attractive investment destinations. India’s Opportunity Potentially, India can take the lead and […]
A WAR-LIKE STATE AND A BOND TO THE RESCUE
Introduction In the Budget before the pandemic, India projected a deficit of ₹7.96-lakh crore. The financial deficit number is set to grow by a wide margin due to revenue shrinkage from the coming depression that will most certainly be accompanied by a lack of appetite for disinvestment. In addition to the expenditure that was planned, […]