After managements of companies in the auto belt of Haryana were held hostage by trade unions, the government seems to be waking up to the growing industrial action and is mulling changes that could end up diluting worker rights.
“It's an important issue and we will look into it. In the current situation, maintaining order under the ambit of labour laws is responsibility of the state government. Any changes in the law itself would be discussed at a tri-partite level,” said Union Labour and Employment Minister Mallikarjun Kharge.
But while special economic zones are governed under a different act, making exceptions for certain zones on a statewide basis will not be a easy task.
Experts say that the proposal is over ambitious and can be challenged legally, apart from being politically sensitive.
“Reforms in labour laws is politically very sensitive, and despite all the intent, no government has been able to touch the subject,” said Vineet Malhotra, a labour lawyer.
For the political class, any large scale changes in labour laws that are seen as anti-people can lead to a huge churn in the votebank. And no political party wants to antagonise this vast vote bank. But if the industry is expected to function smoothly, labour reforms is a reality that the government will not be able to turn a blind eye for too long.