Many Suppressed Questions Emerge Related to the New Labor Codes
Manohar Manoj
The Indian government’s decision to notify its previously enacted four labor code laws has raised several suppressed questions regarding labor, employment, and social security in the country. These questions have become even more relevant now that the recommendations of the Eighth Pay Commission will be implemented next month, i.e., from January 2026. In such a scenario, a major question arises: when there is talk of ‘one nation-one tax’, ‘one nation-one election’, ‘one nation-one legislation’, why is the government not demonstrating a comprehensive vision and action plan for a uniform perspective, uniform measures, uniform opportunities, and uniform environment concerning the broader interests of the entire population of the country?The working population in the country, which constitutes nearly the maximum 60 percent of the total population, i.e., about 100 crore people, includes numerous classes. With them first come unequal employment opportunities, then different wages, different working conditions, and different social security situations. This diverse world of the labor community in India presents a picture of organized versus unorganized labor force, i.e., 10 percent versus 90 percent.
Here’s the English translation of the additional Hindi text, continuing seamlessly from the previous section for full context:The second picture that emerges is of government versus non-government labor force, whose conditions are completely different from each other. The third picture is of white-collar versus blue-collar labor force. The fourth is of those with permanent employment and contract-based temporary labor force. The fifth is of the reservation-obtained employment sector and the reservation-free sector. In total, this major dividing line in the country—between a labor force equipped with all labor laws and a worker class devoid of any legal protection—is blurring the picture of one India and a superior India.
The question becomes even more concerning when we consider that our economy, both declared and practical, operates on the two pillars of the public sector and the private sector. In this system, where there is mutual cooperation and competition between the private and public sectors, and above all, talk of a level playing field for both under a regulatory authority—ensuring statutory compliance and equal government incentives.In such a scenario, the question arises: why does the government, by constituting a Pay Commission every ten years, provide special treatment only to the 5.5 million government employees and about 7.5 million pensioners in the country? If this population is entitled to it, are the other workers, laborers, or employees of the country not eligible for this provision?
When it comes to the states, their economic position is not as strong as the center’s, yet they face pressure to provide central pay scales to their employees. Several times, states’ economies have faltered due to implementing central pay scales. It has also been observed that profitability in central government commercial enterprises turned into losses after the Pay Commission recommendations were implemented.Along with this, a second question arises: why are all the labor welfare provisions in private enterprises left to their whims? Notably, in large private sectors, the salaries of lower-level, i.e., fourth-class employees are less than the government’s, while first-class or higher-level employees earn more than the government. Government permanent employees fall 100 percent under the organized labor force category, whereas in the private sector, only the labor force of a few institutions falls under the organized sector. The current situation is that, excluding just ten percent of private, i.e., large corporate groups, there is mostly no compliance with labor laws elsewhere. The productivity and profitability of the private sector affect the extent of benefits provided to workers by them.
But the irony is that we don’t see any transparent system for this.Today, the question is: in this new economic era, when talk of a level playing field for private and government sectors is emphasized, why this discrimination in that time? Why doesn’t the government sector pay attention to employee productivity and cost sensitivity like the private sector, and why doesn’t the private sector comply with labor welfare and working conditions like the government sector? Even considering the factors of labor market demand and supply, an artificial discrimination appears.The central government took a policy decision to stop providing retirement pensions from government funds for employees joining after 2004, making it contribution-based from employees. However, now many state governments, treating it as a political vote bank, are promising to provide the old pension facility—equal to half the salary—for life, despite it being against their economic situation. Despite this, crores of citizens in these state governments are deprived of even the minimum reasonable pension amount.In the country, there are still many retired government people who receive one lakh monthly pension, while the majority of the country’s people get no pension at all.
In this matter, the situation that has developed in the government itself is extremely concerning. For the past several decades, the shield of permanent jobs and associated labor laws in government departments has led to an unproductive work environment, increasing financial burden, and highly imbalanced labor market conditions. Instead of finding any permanent policy solution, all governments—whether at the center, states, or of any party—have remained silent on this and simply reduced government appointments. Today, the situation is that the number of government jobs per thousand population in India is just 17, while it is 55 in China and 77 in the capitalist country America. Excluding a few gazetted category jobs, most governments are somehow managing even their sanctioned or necessary labor force without new appointments, or making appointments on contract basis. As a result, the productivity of governments at all levels in the country is being affected.
As a result, the productivity of governments at all levels in the country is being affected. The current situation is that around 10 lakh approved posts are vacant in the central government and about 1 crore in state governments. In a country where the number of educated unemployed is 6 to 8 crore, such a situation seems utterly shocking. Today, in every department of the central and state governments, a parallel work system of permanent and contractual workers is running. The situation is that the government has not been able to formulate a clear policy stance on this. If a nationwide contractual appointment policy aligned with the best working conditions is adopted—and it applies to all governments, whether central, state, local governance, or private, organized, and unorganized sectors—then certainly a comprehensive ecosystem of productive, just, and equitable labor employment and social welfare would be created in the country.The government should ensure in the country that “equal work-equal pay,” “equal qualification-equal pay,” “equal service period-equal pension” are established in society, so that the gap of labor-induced inequality in the country can be prevented from widening further.