Shram Shakthi Niti 2025: Cocktail of Laissez Faire & Scriptures
K N Umesh
UNION Ministry of Labour & Employment has released a draft policy titled Shram Shakthi Niti 2025. The context and purpose of the policy states that it is rooted in constitutional values of equality, justice and dignity. It derives its legitimacy and moral authority from the Constitution of India which lays foundation for a just, inclusive and welfare-oriented labour system with the Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles as the basis of Indian labour law governance. It claims to be a renewed vision for fair, inclusive and future-ready labour eco system rooted in the civilizational ethos of shrama dharma based on Manu Smriti and other scriptures prescribing moral value of work.
The thrust of the draft policy defeats the very purpose and context of the policy as it draws inspiration from the shrama dharma based on archaic scriptures like Manu Smriti and others, while attempting to implement Labour Codes, both of which are contrary to the values of the Indian Constitution. The first National Labour Commission headed by Justice Gajendragadkar, as per the reference made to it by the then Union Government, had recommended legislative measures to implement the Directive Principles of State policy in 1969. But the Policy statement has taken a direction totally contrary to it and hypocritically claims to be based on the Directive Principles of State Policy. The claim of inclusivity, fairness and rooting itself in constitutional values of the entire exercise is absolutely false and fraudulent.
The Policy is a desperate attempt to justify the anti-worker provisions of four Labour Codes, and to implement them to suit the interests of private corporates, both foreign and domestic, under neoliberal order with perpetual open-ended empowerment to violate even the Labour Codes at their will.
The policy strips the Ministry from the responsibility of being the custodian of labour laws governance as an enforcement machinery and inspection authority. It provides for self-governance through self-certification along with furthering the decriminalization of offences of employers brought in through Jan Vishwas Act and Shram Suvidha Samadhan portal, and centralized random inspections pursued by the Govt.
Ministry’s role in the labour law domain of enforcement, regulation, inspection and conciliation / adjudication is sought to be done away and cut down into being only an employment facilitator with no measurable accountability. It seeks to empower the employers’ class with a license to violate the labour laws, even the Labour Codes, with impunity enabling a neo laissez faire regime. The Policy has gone blind towards the increasing violations of the prevailing labour legislations and is proposing further deregulation, abdicating its enforcement authority of ensuring compliance in its pursuit to implement the draconian corporate servile process.
While the Policy claims inclusivity the fact remains that large sections of workers are excluded from the present labour laws domain due to the increase in the threshold limits of employment for coverage under the Labour Codes. The Codes, in spite of insistence by the trade unions, have not reduced the threshold limits to expand the coverage. Hence the claim of inclusivity is only a mockery and fraud on the toiling people. The claim of universal coverage of Social Security through portability and digitalization is futile without any budgetary funding.
To facilitate employment, jobs need to be created. The Economic Survey 2024-25 reveals that on an average 85 lakh jobs are to be generated annually over next decade. But the policies of the government and incentives doled out in the name of production linked incentive and capex incentive have failed to create claimed jobs. The employment linked incentive is only an instrument of notoriety aimed at phased conversion of jobs in the formal sectors to be informalized through apprentices, interns and trainees, which are out of purview and coverage of all labour laws.
The Annual Survey of Industries reveals the stark reality of decreasing share of wages in the net value addition from 30.27 per cent in 1981-82 to 15.97 per cent in 2023-24 while the share of employers’ profit increased from 23.39 per cent to 51.01 per cent, shrinking the domestic demand. The lack of demand is constraining investment by the employers in spite of huge cash surplus to the tune of Rs 10 lakh crore in the hands of top listed companies thereby retarding creation of decent formal jobs.
The efforts of restructuring labour governance, that too of destructive nature, initiated aggressively in the last 11 years of Modi-led BJP Government are echoed through this policy. Unable to implement the anti-worker and pro- employer four Labour Codes since 2019-2020 due to the consistent resistance by the united trade union movement, the Modi Government is desperate to implement them through this Policy. It is in line with the 2025 Independence Day speech of the Prime Minister for third generation reforms prescription of ‘Daam Kam-Dum Zyada’ (Less Cost – More Quality) Mantra for manufacturers.
The tripartite mechanism of Indian Labour Conference (ILC), tripartite consultative bodies, statutory advisory bodies are all given a go bye and other structures, as laid down in the Labour Codes, are mooted to minimize the role of workers voice. The Modi Government’s record of not holding ILC for last 10 years, in spite of persistent demands by the Central Trade Unions and Parliamentary Standing Committee remarks against the Government for not holding it, is also not addressed. The long-established practice of evolving consensus through tripartite forum of ILC existing since 1942 is done away and Annual Convergence Forums for the joint review of the implementation of the policy is proposed. No representation of workers’ organisations is in the implementation architecture of National Labour & Employment Policy Implementation Council, State Labour & Employment Missions, and District Labour & Resource Centers. Tripartite mechanism is replaced by unilateralism to further neoliberal regime in the labour domain.
The Policy atrociously undermines federalism, restricting powers of States with the implementation of policy through Labour & Employment Policy Evaluation Index (LPEI), bench-marking of States to ensure restructuring of labour laws regime to suit the neo liberal interests. The policy ushers in continuance of Modi Government’s incentivization for reforms through production linked incentives for the employers and grants to States linked to labour regime reforms by the States based on the ranking index under LPEI. The Policy proposes three-phase implementation with the immediate phase of 2025-27, medium-term phase of 2027-30 and long-term phase beyond 2030 which spills over beyond the tenure of this Union Government. The Policy proposes creation of labour reforms fund, pooling resources from Central, State and private stake holders for its financial sustainability.
The shrama dharma based on archaic Smriti scriptures is in itself a most regressive anti-labour concept contrary to the trinity of Indian Constitution – the Preamble, Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy. It is an utterly retrograde effort to replace the Constitution-based democratic governance of labour domain by the ethos of so-called ‘raj dharma’ founded on the philosophical and ideological outlook of RSS/BJP political project of Hindutva based on the archaic inhuman scriptures like Manusmriti, Yagnavalkyasmriti, Naradasmriti, Sukraniti, Artha Shastra and the Sulka Nyaya to further the interests of neoliberal forces in a neo-fascist way. The Manusmriti – which prescribes that women are not eligible to liberty (Manusmriti 9.3) and Varna/caste based on occupation and forced labour (Manusmriti 1.88-91), which is in contrast to the ethos of constitutionalism and governance of secular democratic Republic, is taken as a source of raj dharma in framing this policy. This in itself denotes the anti-worker, anti-people and fascistic content of the policy. Communal-corporate nexus in governance is blending the cocktail of neo laissez faire regime with the archaic Smriti scriptures validating it in tune with the Hindutva authoritarian neo-fascistic trends of Modi Government deregulating the labour Governance.
The Shram Shakti Niti must be combated through resistance and defiance unitedly with the constitutional values and ethos urging for a policy to ensure strict regulatory, compliance through inspections and better worker-centric labour regime based on tripartite mechanism.
