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Post economic reform period, in response to the strident demands of employers, the central and the state governments have undertaken several labour law and governance reforms in trickles. Predictably, trade unions have been opposing them. The reform of labour laws has gained momentum since the assumption of power by BJP-led NDA government at the Centre in May 2014. Recently some state governments like Rajasthan have carried out significant reforms of the labour laws. The NDA government has taken a big stride in the reform initiative by rationalising numerous labour laws into four codes on wages, industrial relations, social security and safety and working conditions. These Codes include significant reforms ensuring flexibility for employers and some benefits for workers. The proposed reforms have far reaching implications. Hence, there is an urgent need for a comprehensive introduction to and analysis of these reform measures in a single volume.

This volume, in honour of Prof L.K. Deshpande, provides rich insights into the contemporary labour law reform debates in a comprehensive manner. Perhaps for the first time, it contains articles primarily from stakeholders in the industrial relations system, viz. representatives of trade unions and employers, business consultants, and [retired] government official in addition to a few academics. All these contributors bring on board rich but diverse perspectives, arising from their long-standing on-field experience, on the changes in and the proposed reforms to labour laws and policies. Thus, this volume is more than an academic read. In this sense, this volume seeks to fill in a critical void in the literature on the ongoing debate on labour law and governance reforms in India. It will hopefully prove to be a major contribution to enabling an understanding of the ongoing labour law and governance reforms and their possible impacts on the ease of doing business and also on workers’ rights.