A critical analysis of the impact of COVID- 19 pandemic on Labour Legislations and the State
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55184/dmejl.v1i01.56Keywords:
Labour Laws, Constitutional Law, Social Security, COVID-19, PandemicAbstract
The situation of the COVID-19 pandemic affected every sector of the Indian economy. The working class which is a soul of the economy is badly affected and many migrant workers died in various accidents while returning to their hometown. Many State governments have acted wisely in time to take them back and started transportation. However, meanwhile State of Uttar Pradesh and State of Madhya Pradesh mainly these two States started amending labour laws and thereafter followed by the Rajasthan, Punjab,Gujarat,Goa, Assam, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh has suspended major labour laws by an ordinance 2020 for the revival of economy and smooth functioning of industries, except for three legislation i.e. the Bonded Labour Act, certain sections of the Workmen Compensation Act, Women and Children Welfare Act and Building and Construction Workers Act, for three years. Although labour is subject of the concurrent list of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India, the legislation, which they suspended is central and therefore seeking approval from the central government is indispensable. The Union Government has yet to respond to it and also the matter is pending before the Supreme Court of India as constitutional validity was challenged by some public-spirited persons and Some of the States withdrawn their amendments. However, this decision has been highly criticized by the various trade unions and debate is going on. Therefore, in this paper, author attempted to analyze the role of the welfare State and validity of the ordinance from the constitutional perspective. The methodology used for analyses of this paper is purely doctrinal based on both primary and secondary data.
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