The Indian government is working to develop a new Labour Welfare and Employment Index or LWEI, which is expected to be officially announced in July 2024. The index will rank states and Union Territories on the basis of labour welfare, employment, social security and productivity. It is expected that the Index will give rise to healthy competition amongst the states even while ensuring that labour laws are uniformly implemented across the states of the country. In other words, the index will lead to more consistency when it comes to employment policies and benefits. This will, eventually, benefit businesses that operate in more than one state.
The Government of India has already simplified and decreased the number of labour laws and made several labour acts compact four years ago. The objective was to simplify processes and compliance requirements so that it becomes easier to do business. The LWEI is yet another measure in this direction.
The focus of the Union Budget this year will also be to help improve the ease of doing business. As part of this endeavour, it is expected that more than a 100 provisions across various laws will be decriminalised.
For instance, the Jan Vishwas Bill which once meant even a jail sentence for minor offences will now only attract a monetary fine or penalty, so that the justice system acts fast and with more efficiency, and is able to focus on more serious cases.
