Labour Law Reform
Amidst the micro and macro-economic crisis, the union government has aggressively pushed the agenda of labour law reform, by stating the intention of simplifying old and complex 44 central labour legislation, to improve the business environment, harmonize labour market, and increase employment. In short, improving the ranking of India in the index of ‘Ease of Doing Business’ (EDB) and foreign direct investment (FDI) have driven the demand to simplify the labour law, particularly from the business fraternity. However, the trade unions have called these reforms - an anti-working class, anti-industry, perhaps pushing India back to ‘British Era’ or ‘Modern Slavery’. It is pertinent to mention that India’s labour law has a history of 97 years.