When the Modi government implemented four new labour codes on November 21, it claimed to be delivering “one of the most comprehensive and progressive labour-oriented reforms since Independence”. The prime minister himself celebrated the moment with his characteristic triumphalism, declaring that the codes “greatly empower our workers” while simplifying compliance for businesses.

The Joint Platform of Central Trade Unions comprising ten major trade unions saw it differently. In a scathing statement, they condemned the implementation as a “deceptive fraud” against India’s working people and burned copies of the codes in street protests.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) charged that the reforms “dismantle 29 hard-won labour laws” and “shift the balance sharply in favour of employers”.

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