HILAL BHAT
In one of the biggest reforms of this generation government of India ( GOI ) introduces new labour laws covering about 60 crore workers which is one of the largest workforce in the world.That means new labour laws will directly impact the bread and butter of all this huge workforce of the country.According to new labour laws now there will be Universal Social Security for all the workers across the type , status , sector or location of the work place which was earlier limited to factories and office workers only.Facilities and benifits such as Health insurance and Providant faund will be extended to one and all worker working across the country.Economic experts consider India having a demographic gold mine in the form of its huge young population which can shape and lift the economy of the country but to much of its surprise most of the qualified youth in India don’t have any job avenues.The gap between our Education System and Job market is only widening with time.Our educated youth is lacking in skills and innovations which is the gateway to employment in the 21st century.As such providing social security to its large junk of people in working sector will help in stabilising economic condition of the families and will shape economy of the country.In India arround 93% workers are working in informal sector having no permanent job plan or social security.It means nine out of every ten workers don’t have any permanent contract of job.New labour laws besides enhancing social security of workers will also promote inter-state working by providing travell allowances and portability benefits to migrant workers.The labour reforms also extend compensation and ESIC benifits to thousands of workers who are affected by road-related mishaps.
In its historical and decisive move central government introduces new labour laws to be effective from 21 November 2025 by consolidating the entire existing 29 labour laws into simple 4 labour codes , viz The code on wages 2019 , The Industrial Relations code 2020 , The code on Social Security 2020 and the Occupational Safety Health and Working Conditions code 2020.First time ever a new , uniform and a standardised definition of wages is introduced.Intrestingly wages will now essentially mean all salary components whether paid as allowances , reimbursements or as benifits to the employees.In case of allowances exceede 50% of the total remuneration , the extra amount shall be added back into wages.This will ensure consistency in calculating gratuity , pension and social security benifits.A prominent reflection of the reform is the introduction of a new term “ fixed-term employment “ which will include employees on short contracts in education , IT , manufacturing and unorganised and services sectors.All this contractual work force will now be entitled to proportionate gratuity just after putting in one year of service instead of the earlier five years.Women to get equal pay and equal opportunities under new laws.There is also a provision for mandatory health check-up for workers above 40.
These reforms are aimed to ensure minimum wages for all workers which is Rs 783 for unskilled , Rs 868 for semi-skilled and 1035 per day for highly skilled workers and extend Social security to gig and plateform workers.The reforms also aim to simplify regulatory compliance through single registrations and returns , mandating written appointment letters and applying equal protections for women across all workplaces.Workers protection is improved interms of health and safety , better conditions and dispute resolutions.The reforms promise a modernised and more inclusive labour ecosystem which will be aligned with global standards.Moreover , they will provide transformation of workers rights and work culture across India.Meanwhile centre has approved additional 50 days of work under MGNREGA for natural calamity affected areas of Jammu and Kashmir for FY 2025-2026.So by and large it is turning good for labourers across the country.
The bottomline is that the benefits of stability and dignity are extended to billions of workers who were long excluded from the formal safety net.However , looking at the other aspects of the reforms there is an apprehension that workers rights like that of forming associations , trade unions , protests for rights and making other decisions may be taken away by these reforms.This could be the problem initially faced with small scale business units and may not affect the social security of the workers in the long run.Nevertheless , this should be left for the time itself to answer.
Bhat Hilal Ahmad ( Biotech ) is a writer and a columnist.He comes up with an in-depth analysis on social ,
