Amid political protests over changes in the Mandi regime, the reform of the labor law indicates the determination of the Narendra Modi government to press ahead with reforms.
Labor Minister Santosh Gangwar introduced the three crucial bills: the 2020 Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, the Social Security Code and the Labor Relations Code, amid strong opposition from Congress, Left And some others.
A key element of the proposed Social Security Code is to clearly define migrant workers and also expand the scope of the current scheme to cover the gig economy and those outside the organized sector, while recognizing the emergence of online platforms and aggregators. that provide access to workers. . The bill has mandated the registration of all unorganized and concert and platform workers and the provision of insurance, maternity, daycare and old-age protection benefits.
In addition, it is proposed that companies with no less than 300 workers can hire and fire workers without requesting prior permission from the government as part of the 2020 Industrial Relations Code, which was also presented at Lok Sabha. This has been a contentious move for years with unions opposed to changing the current rules, where only industrial establishments with fewer than 100 employees are allowed to hire and fire employees without government permission.
Although the government has not accepted the employers’ demand for a “hire and fire” margin, the relaxation of the threshold should help medium-sized companies. As part of its “Atma Nirbhar Bharat” push, the government has decided to encourage medium-sized companies to grow in size.
The bill also reflects the changing nature of the economy; the growth of the gig sector and the vulnerability of sectors of workers, from migrant labor to domestic helpers, which despite playing a crucial role did not fit into the traditional definition of “worker”.
The three bills replace the three eponymous pieces of legislation that were passed in Lok Sabha last year and later deliberated by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labor.
Amid opposition protests, Gangwar justified the new bills, arguing that they will merge 29 existing labor laws and pave the way for simplifying laws and taking welfare measures for India’s 50 million workers spanning the sectors. organized and unorganized.
Gangwar also said that the Labor Ministry had accepted 74% of the 233 recommendations made to it by the permanent labor committee led by Bhartruhari Mahtab, and included key additions such as the extension of making all categories of workers eligible for minimum wages. , compared to just 30% of the currently eligible workforce.
Minimum wages, the minister added, would also be extended to the entire service sector, domestic workers, non-unionized workers and teachers, among others.
On Saturday, the key arguments raised by MPs Manish Tewari and Shashi Tharoor were that the three bills were fundamentally modified versions of their previous forms. Tewari said that the Social Security Code is discriminatory and that although 9 laws were merged, many were left out. Congress was also too opposed to the proposed legislation being left to the executive. “Labor rights are fundamental freedoms that have been hard-won and cannot be left to the whims of the executive,” Tewari said. He also argued that the code bills suffered from “definition nightmares” that point to the lack of unanimity in the definition of “workers” in different parts of the code bills.
Regarding the labor relations code, Tharoor said that it severely restricts the right of workers to strike and also allows state or central governments to amend the threshold of applicability related to layoffs and downsizing. Calling it a blow to workers’ rights, both congressmen opposed the bill, sought its withdrawal and asked for broader consultations before introducing them.
Gangwar, however, said the government had consulted widely on these bills and received more than 6,000 comments online.
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