Rethinking Labor Law Reforms

Indian labor laws must be improved. The improvements required must emerge from a dialogue between representatives of employees and employers. The failure to make any significant improvements in the laws so far, in spite of demands for over twenty years from both employers and unions, suggests that the processes used so far to try to change the laws have not been able to produce the required outcome. The paper also outlines the India Backbone Implementation Network, a Planning Commission initiative, conceived along with the 12th Five Year Plan by the Steering Group for Manufacturing.