| Abstract: | The merging of the labour laws in India into four Labour Codes is a milestone in the labour governance system in the Indian country. The paper is a critical analysis of these reforms in terms of neoliberal political economy. It claims that the Labour Codes symbolize a structural change to labour market flexibility, deregulation, and capital-based government. Although the reforms can be explained by the need to enhance the ease of doing business, enhance formalization, and increase economic growth, they pose grave questions in terms of labour rights, job security, and social protection. Based on secondary sources, such as national and Odisha-specific labour statistics, the research paper unveils the inconsistencies between the efficiency of the economy and social justice. The results indicate that, in spite of the formal inclusion strategies, the Codes do not effectively overcome the structural weaknesses of the high proportion of the informal workforce in India. It is concluded in the paper that neoliberal labour restructuring, which is institutionalized into the Labour Codes, intensifies precarity and inequality and also urges the adoption of a more balanced labour welfare and flexibility. |
