Institutional Framework of Industrial Relations in India:Still & Muddy Waters

The reforms of the industrial relations system and the labor market are being debated in the postreform period vigorously as if they are "new agenda" for the state to carry out. This article seeks to view the whole issue of labor law reforms in an historical perspective. It shows that the state has always skirted the core issues of reforms and left them to the employers and the trade unions to resolve their differences. The state was seeking to serve its political interests in the process which led to preservation of status quo. What is not appreciated is that this strategy has led to questionable and undesirable outcomes in the labor market and the industrial relations system.