"Labour codes 'greatest setback' for workers' rights since Independence: Kharge", 11 May 2026

The Congress … lashed out at the Central government which has fully operationalised the four labour codes by notifying the final rules, alleging that these codes are the greatest setback for workers' rights since Independence.

In a statement, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that the Modi government, in its typical cowardly fashion, waited for the assembly elections to conclude before notifying the four "anti-worker" labour codes through a series of gazette notifications ....

"For crores of India's workers, these codes promise a future of hire-and-fire policies, contract employment, and limited space for unionisation," Kharge said in a statement.

It is important to note that the Modi government drafted and implemented these "anti-worker" codes without any consultation, he said.

"It has not even convened the Indian Labour Conference since 2015. These codes, which benefit only the prime minister's industrialist friends, are the greatest setback for workers' rights since Independence," Kharge alleged.

… After a long wait of over five years, the Central government has fully operationalised the four labour codes by publishing the final rules, ensuring minimum wage and universal social security for all workers.

The four codes -- namely the Code on Wages, 2019; the Industrial Relations Code, 2020; the Code on Social Security, 2020; and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 -- came into effect from November 21, 2025.

The four codes were introduced to modernise and consolidate 29 labour laws into a simplified and contemporary framework…