Need Worker Protection, Migrant Data- Will Labour Laws Drive Job Creation

Business Standard Need worker protection, migrant data: Will labour laws drive job creation?

We take a look at what transpired on the jobs and labour fronts in 2020 and what experts have to say as we step into 2021.

With India "likely to have entered a technical recession" for the first time in its history due to the pandemic, and millions of informal workers remaining out of work, states relaxed labour laws and parliament passed three labour codes that would arguably spur job creation and investment.

India's lockdown, announced on March 24 and extended thrice, was among the strictest in the world, grinding economic activity to a halt and rendering millions of migrant and informal workers jobless overnight. In April alone, 122 million lost their jobs, a 30% fall in employment compared to 2019-20, according to an estimate by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).

Although unemployment reduced from July to September, "it appears that the recovery phase is over and a decline is setting in again", noted a CMIE report in December.

"This crisis is not just a 'supply' shock but also a 'demand' shock to the economy," said Santosh Mehrotra, economics professor and chairperson, Centre for Informal Sector and Labour Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Even before the health crisis hit, India's unemployment was at a 45-year high.

We take a look at what transpired on the jobs and labour fronts in 2020 and what experts have to say as we step into 2021.