The four labour codes, which were passed by Parliament in 2019 and 2020, would be implemented soon, with only a handful of States left to draft their own rules under the codes, Union Labour and Employment Minister Bhupender Yadav said on Wednesday.
Asked when the codes would be rolled out, Mr. Yadav said “soon”. He said all but three or four States had drafted their rules under the codes. While the Labour ministry had prepared its rules under the four codes last year, the rules had not been notified.
The codes – on wages, social security, occupational safety and industrial relations – subsumed 29 Central Acts into four codes. Asked about the rumoured date of implementation – July 1 – Mr. Yadav did not comment. With labour being a subject on the concurrent list, Mr. Yadav said “consensus” was being built with the States.
Meanwhile, the Ministry would be releasing the third quarter report of its Quarterly Employment Survey as a part of the All-India Quarterly Establishment-based Employment Survey that covers nine selected sectors on Thursday, Mr. Yadav said.
In the second report released in January, the survey found employment had increased by about 2 lakh from April-June 2021 to July-September 2021. It comes just days after a Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy said half of the working age population had exited the labour force, an assertion the Ministry countered on Tuesday. In a statement, the Ministry said the number of working age population not seeking work included 10 crore students as well as those engaged in unpaid activities like caregiving.
The Ministry said it was incorrect to infer that half of the working age population had lost hope and dropped out of the labour force.
