The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has identified labour reforms as one of the key measures to improve the ease of doing business in India. Though many of the reforms were initiated by the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, whose 10-year tenure ended in 2014, they remained unimplemented in the face of resistance from vocal trade unions and a lack of political will.
The Narendra Modi government, however, went ahead with the reforms—some at the central government-level and some in the states that are governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). While the industry has lauded the “good beginning”, labour unions, including those affiliated to the ruling BJP, have criticized the government for tilting too heavily towards industry. A snapshot of the key labour reforms undertaken so far:
