Labour reforms in India during post covid-19: A study of gig and inter-state migrant workers as shine to whine

In the global economic market, COVID-19 has caused considerable havoc. Poor and developed countries like India are the worst hit. Due to the Government of India's (GOI) national level lockdown announcement on March 25, 2020, millions of migrant workers began returning home.."Out of all the migrant workers who returned home, almost 75 percent hailed from five states such as; Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh". Helpless people were forced to travel hundreds of kilometres, in many cases, on foot and on empty stomachs in the scorching summer heat, in a desperate attempt to reach their homes. Moreover, there are significant changes that have been introduced through the labour codes-2020, which considerably reduce the compliance burden for companies who have had to deal with 40-odd central laws, involving filing separate returns and multiple registrations. After the reduction of labour laws, working towards a single licence, registration, and return regime, will lead to less paperwork. For undertaking several projects, there will be a single Pan-Indian licence that a firm needs to obtain. Further, the inspection process will also get simplified and made web-based. The present paper is an attempt to analyse current labour reforms from the perspective of the post-COVID-19 pandemic due to labour reforms and the expected outcomes in the Indian economy.