Centre, states likely to review labour code rollout at December meet

Last year, a study released by a government agency - V V Giri National Labour Institute- had said that the rules framed by various states and UTs under the new labour codes have "too much" divergence

For rolling out the four new labour codes and discussing labour-welfare policies, the Union labour ministry is likely to convene a meeting with the labour ministers of all the states and Union Territories (UTs) in early December to gauge their preparedness, sources said.

  The “Chintan Shivir”, or brainstorming session, will work to bring in all the states and UTs on board. The codes are part of the Centre’s long-pending reforms agenda.

  “As part of preparations for the meeting, all the states have been asked to come up with a comparative study of the draft rules framed by them and the model rules framed by the Union government. This will help us to identify gaps and plug them quickly,” a source said.

  Last year, a study released by government agency V V Giri National Labour Institute had said the rules framed by various states and UTs had “too much” divergence with the central rules.

  It had noted only 24 states/UTs had formed rules under all four codes, and West Bengal, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Lakshadweep, and Dadar & Nagar Haveli so far have a blank picture.

  The move follows the recently concluded six regional conferences held in different parts of the country. They were attended by labour officials from the Centre and various states, with discussions centring around labour reforms, the eShram portal, quality employment generation, and building and other construction workers, among others.

  “The conference will be convened in the spirit of cooperative federalism to discuss significant labour-related issues, along with labour codes. It will help create further synergy between the Centre and state governments in formulating better policies and ensuring effective implementation of schemes for the welfare of workers,” a source said. 

  In August 2022 a similar meeting had taken place in Tirupati, where labour ministers from 19 states had participated and had come up with ‘Vision Shramev Jayate @ 2047’. 

 

which focused on improving female labour force participation, ensuring gender equality, and leveraging new forms of work like remote working and gig work to create employment.

 

 

Laying the groundwork

 

 

- Focus on evaluating states' readiness for implementing the four new labour codes

- States to present a comparative study of their draft rules against the central model

- A past study revealed significant divergence between state and central labour rules

- Meeting aims to foster cooperative federalism and policy synergy on labour issues