The Modi government at the centre has fully operationalised the four labour codes on May 8, 2026, notifying 30 central rules. Several state governments are also prepared to operationalise the codes in line with the central rules. BJP led state governments are eager to do it at the earliest as double engine sarkars.  The non-BJP led state governments are also prepared with the final drafts of state rules, even though they are opposing the central labour codes for public consumption.

The only state government which opposed it in principle and initiated steps to evolve alternatives to the central labour codes was the previous LDF Govt of Keralam. It constituted an expert committee under the Chairmanship of retired Supreme Court Judge, Justice V Gopal Gowda on January 22, 2026 to study the four labour codes, suggest amendments to the same and recommend state level legislations to protect and advance the rights and interests of workers. The expert committee was constituted based on the unanimous proposal of the Central Trade Unions participating in the National Labour Conclave on Labour Codes organised by the Keralam government on December 19, 2025 at Trivandrum. The Committee submitted its report on March 5, 2026. The state assembly elections code of conduct restrained the LDF Govt from initiating actions based on the recommendations.

The Committee examined all four labour codes through the lens of the Constitution, with particular emphasis on the commitment to social and economic justice embodied in the Preamble and Directive Principles of State Policy. It evaluated the labour codes against the state’s obligation to secure just and human conditions of work, living wages and social security for all workers.  It critically examined how the labour codes undermine the constitutional vision of social and economic justice by diluting existing protections and failing to adequately protect vulnerable sections of the workforce. It  categorically said that the Labour Codes are not in compliance with the Constitution.

According to the Committee, “The Labour Codes are not merely an abdication of Constitutional responsibility, but an active and conscious departure from the foundational principles. Instead of acting as a guarantor of workers’ rights, the State has openly aligned itself with the interests of the corporate and employer class. Far from promoting equality and social justice, the Labour Codes deepen structural inequalities, aggravate the power imbalance between the labour and capital, and undermine the dignity of labour that the constitution guarantees. Effectively, the State has stepped away from its role as a guarantor of rights and has instead become an enabler of inequality and exploitation”.

The Committee recommended state amendments to the Labour Codes with specific section-wise amendments. In addition to state amendments, the committee recommended three specific state legislations to protect the interests of contract labour, unorganised workers and sanitation workers. It submitted draft bills for regularisation of contract labour, conferring service conditions for informal workers, including protection and welfare of sanitation workers.

The Committee stated that the state legislatures are constitutionally empowered to bring in state amendments to the central legislations in the area of labour to protect the interests of workers, as labour matters are in the concurrent list under 7th Schedule.

The recommendations are based on the constitutional provisions which provide for legislation on labour matters as they fall within the entries 22, 23 and 24 in the concurrent list. Entry 22 covers trade unions; industrial and labour disputes, entry 23 covers social security and social insurance, employment and unemployment and entry 24 covers welfare of labour including conditions of work, provident funds, employers’ liability, workmen's compensation, invalidity and old age pensions and maternity benefits.

Article 246 of the Constitution divides legislative powers between the Union (Parliament) and State Legislature, Article 246(2) empowers both the Parliament and state legislatures to legislate with respect to the matters enumerated in the Concurrent List, subject to the doctrine of repugnancy which acts as a high bar for central supremacy. State legislations prevail over central legislations provided the President gives assent and the state legislations serve the interest of the workers in light of the Preamble and Directive Principles of State Policy as per Article 254(2) of the Constitution.

Section 161 of the Social Security Code, Ssection 120 of the Occupational Safety, Health & Working Conditions Code, Section 76 of the Industrial Relations Code, Section 2(d) of the Code on Wages indicate in spirit that workers are entitled to benefits and entitlements which are more favourable to them wherever available.

Section 161 of the Code on Social Security and Section 120 of the OSH&WC Code provide that where, under any award, agreement, contract of service or otherwise, a person is entitled to benefits that are more favourable. The phrase “or otherwise” is significant, as it extends the provision beyond contractual arrangements to cover any source of superior benefits, including those arising from state legislation, whereby the code operates as a minimum floor of protection, but not as a ceiling.

Section 76 of the Industrial Relations Code which preserves workers’ entitlements to more favourable benefits available under “any other Act or rules, orders or notifications” or “otherwise”, contemplates the continued operation of state laws or instruments that confer enhanced protections.

Section 2(d) of the Code on Wages defines appropriate government in a manner where both central and state governments are considered as appropriate governments and the Code vests the power of fixing the rate of minimum wages with the appropriate government.

So the Committee stated that scope for state amendments are also provided for within the ambit of the Labour Codes and that the President will have to give assent since, as per the Labour Codes, state amendments shall also not be repugnant.

Constitutional Architecture of Labour Law is fundamentally federal - not unitary

The Committee affirmed that the state governments possess substantive legislative and regulatory authority over labour matters, as the constitutional architecture of labour law in India is fundamentally federal, not unitary. Therefore, the Committee underlined State Power as democratic safeguard and recommended that state governments can introduce laws and amendments  providing even more favourable benefits, entitlements, and conditions of service to workers beyond the minimum provided under the Labour Codes.

In the words of the Committee, “In India’s constitutional democracy, federalism is not an administrative convenience but structural imperative. State Governments are not mere implementing agencies but constitutional actors with independent legislative competence. The Labour Codes are not settled law but contested terrain where the future of workers’ rights will be determined through democratic struggle, legislative innovation, and federal negotiation. States that choose to exercise their constitutional powers can ensure that the floor established by the Codes does not become a ceiling, and that the rights of workers are expanded rather than contracted”.

Even though the the recommendations of the Justice Gopal Gowda Committee are for the Government of Keralam, they are applicable to all state governments in the nation. Its recommendations will be instrumental to advance the struggle for left alternative forms of intervention, focusing on alternative policy trajectories, within the existing framework of the current neo-liberal labour regime. State-wise specific amendments by the state governments should be demanded along with the demand for the repeal of the Labour codes by the Centre.

By constituting an expert committee and getting its recommendations, the LDF Government of Keralam has shown an alternative path that is constitutionally available to the state governments. Alternative labour codes against the anti-worker and pro-corporate central Labour Codes can be enacted through state amendments, instead of implementing them fully or limited tinkering through state rules.

The movement for alternative labour codes, demanding state amendments to the central Labour Codes both in Keralam and elsewhere throughout the nation, will be crucial to resist and defy the neo-liberal labour regime that the Modi government has ushered in through the draconian four Labour codes.