Labour Reforms: Ease of Doing Business – 2020-2021

Emergence of Four Labour Codes.
Gains, Challenges and concern of Employers arising out of the Labour Reforms through Labour Codes.

K.Vittala Rao
Management Consultant, Bangalore

The buzz words, “Labour Reforms”,  are not unfamiliar to the Business Community as well as the Trade Unions for the last over 3 decades. The Central Government brought “Economic Reforms” all of a sudden in the year 1991, resulting in Globalization of  Trade & Business . Economic Reforms calls for immediate Labour Reforms to provide a helping hand in terms of eliminations of legal constraints & hurdles to the Indian Industry. Indian Industry was saddled with multiple legal restrictions causing hurdles for organizing /reorganizing/ rationalization of process & methods and most importantly the productivity etc. This was not attended to.  Ever since, the Indian Business Entrepreneurs have been consistently pressurizing and pursuing the Central Government to bring out “Labour Reforms” to ease of doing Business due to global competitiveness with cost, quality and delivery.  The Business constantly urged upon the Central Government, in order to invite Foreign Direct Investment, the productivity coupled with international quality as also the cost effectiveness which are the main criteria’s, and insisted on the  Central Government that  flexibility in engagement of human resource, and to eliminate  the legal hurdles and restrictions pertaining to  modernization, adaptation to the latest technology, rationalizations and method improvements etc are the primary essentials.  As we have witnessed, the Central Finance Ministry would talk of the word “Labour Reforms” during the Finance Budget presentation every year. Indian Business would get motivated and attracted towards the steps to be taken with eagerness. The Trade Unions, upon hearing the word “Labour Reforms” would get emotionally charged and call for protest including organizing & inciting a “Bhart Bundh”. Next, the Central Government, watching the protest, no further initiatives, and the year is gone. These are the chain of events, going on year on year.

Read More