Thread:

It& #39;s a cliche that India reforms only in a crisis. So of course changes to the labour laws announced by states last week were hailed as great reforms.

But can you call what UP did – junking most labour laws – a reform?

On The Political Fix: https://thepoliticalfix.substack.com/p/the-political-fix-why-are-indian">https://thepoliticalfix.substack.com/p/the-pol...

. @pbmehta also covered this territory:

"We need to reclaim the word reform... Gutting environmental laws is not “reform.” Designing laws and enforcement that achieve clean air and water is reform. Gutting labour protection is not “reform." https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/industrial-relations-code-india-labour-law-amendment-pratap-bhanu-mehta-6405265/">https://indianexpress.com/article/o...

Criticism also came from RSS& #39; labour wing, the BMS, and this article on ORF, hardly a place you& #39;d expect to see bleeding-heart commentary:

Reducing regulatory cholesterol is one thing. But suspending all laws is like throwing the baby with the bathwater. https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/covid19-yogi-adityanath-attempts-reforms-delivers-regulatory-chaos-uttar-pradesh-65918/">https://www.orfonline.org/expert-sp...

Some have lauded what Madhya Pradesh has done – with more targeted alterations to the law – compared to the wrecking ball that UP Chief Minister Adityanath pulled out.

Others have long called for India to change the way it regulates labour https://twitter.com/srajagopalan/status/1258604939548516354">https://twitter.com/srajagopa...

But even Madhya Pradesh& #39;s actions – such as not recognising unions for key sectors – raise red flags, and many have argued against the idea that that more flexible labour norms leads to better investment.

See this thread: https://twitter.com/ShankarGopalak/status/1259367034418159616">https://twitter.com/ShankarGo...

There& #39;s more on this, including links, plus lots of other analysis and tid-bits on The Political Fix, my weekly newsletter on Indian politics and policy, which turns up in your inbox every Monday: http://thepoliticalfix.substack.com"> http://thepoliticalfix.substack.com