India to create jobs for Migrant workers in lockdown times

Last updated on February 13th, 2023 at 04:31 pm

There is good news for migrant workers in India. With labour reform laws being relaxed in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, job seekers can now find work, despite the terrible lockdown situation that had brought the Indian economy to a grinding halt.

The labour law reform is also a way for the Centre to open the Indian economy to offer itself as a lucrative market for those thinking of shifting operations and manufacturing units from China to elsewhere in the world. India is presenting itself as an ideal market for investment.

Other India states to alter their labour reforms also include Goa and Gujarat. According to the alterations made, industries operating in these three states will have the power to hire and fire; working shifts will be increased from 8 hours to 12 hours, and there will be a sizeable reduction of compliance regulations.

These alterations have opened vistas for migrant workers who can now return back to their native states to find appropriate work. They may not need to return back to larger cities for work in the near future. It is confirmed that the previous

The 40 and more labour laws were set since independence and have not gone through sizable alteration or change to suit the actual needs of workers. Nearly 90 per cent of India’s estimated 47 crore workforce faces this problem. In fact, these laws have served as a deterrent to newer businesses. Economists believe that the newly announced relaxations will not only incentivize but also create fresh industrial investment opportunities, resulting in more jobs for the workers at a time when the unemployment rate has hit a record high of 27 per cent.

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With such robust reform, India is competing with markets like Vietnam and Thailand that have already relaxed their labour laws to divert investment towards them. However, even as before, many agricultural jobs for example had no formal contracts. The chances of exploitation and lack of accountability may be challenges which the workers would be left to face.