Ravi Srivastava on history of labour rights in India

The recent labour reforms by the NDA government have led to the streamlining of 44 labour legislation into four broad codes: on wages, occupational safety, health and working conditions, industrial relations and social security and welfare. Those on the side of labour have argued that the 44 labour laws were a result of prolonged struggles of workers of various sectors demanding emphasis on the specificities of each of these sectors. In this context, the Centre for Equity Studies (CES) in collaboration with Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung presents a panel discussion on the drawbacks in the existing labour laws, the implications of the recent labour reforms and the challenges it poses to collective bargaining. Ravi Srivastava introduces labour rights in India in order to understand the current conversation on the proposed changes to the existing labour laws.