These two reports on the agenda have exposed India’s betrayal of the workforce, which is particularly important because the Union Government led by PM Narendra Modi has notified the central rules for all the four labour codes on May 8-9, 2026, claiming that these will benefit the workforce, but in reality, has concealed its real intention to protect the offending employers.

The report on Navigating Change Through Inclusive Social Dialogue, while giving a picture of the world in addressing the economic and social crises, has noted that tripartite social dialogue has lacked momentum. It gave specific single example of India, and said that the Indian Labour Conference (ILC) has not been convened since 2015.

At the same time the report emphasized on the importance of tripartite social dialogue at national and sectoral levels and said that there are evidences that it led to measures supporting employment, income, wages and consumption, as well as credit policy initiatives and tax relief for business in those countries that opted for it.

The report of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations has mentioned Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 with special reference to Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in India. Following its previous comments on the delegation of powers of labour inspectors in SEZs to development commissioners, who also have a responsibility to promote investment in the SEZs, the Committee notes the Government’s statement in its report that this approach is still operational in SEZs but that labour inspectors from the concerned state government continue to conduct inspections in those zones when required.

Nevertheless, the government of India provided data on labour inspection in only 4 out of 280 SEZs. It indicated the ILO’s Expert Committee that it would provide the data for remaining SEZs once they are compiled. It just shows how badly the Modi government is doing on protecting the rights of the workers as against the exploitation by the employers.

The ILO committee hasted that the number of inspections conducted in the 4 SEZs was limited with only 12 in 2022–23 and 25 in 2023–24. In addition, the Government states that it is promoting voluntary compliance by enterprises, over the use of a punitive approach.

In this regard, the Committee observes that there have been no fines and no criminal prosecutions recorded in SEZs in 2022–23 and 2023–24, despite 87 and 94 offences being reported in those respective years.

The Committee therefore recalls that it is essential for the credibility and effectiveness of systems that the proceedings instituted or recommended by labour inspectors, against employers guilty of violations, be sufficiently dissuasive and make employers aware of the risks incurred if they fail to meet their obligations.

The Committee has requested the Government of India to continue to take measures to ensure that the functions of labour inspection under Article 3(1) of the Convention are fully carried out in SEZs. It also requested the Government to provide full statistics of labour inspections conducted in SEZs, once available, including on the violations detected, the fines imposed, and the proceedings initiated. The Committee also requested the Government to provide further information on the division of tasks between development commissioners and labour inspectors in SEZs.

As for making the statistical information on activities of the labour inspection services at the central and state level, the committee has requested the government to continue to take measures to ensure that the central authority transmit the ILO annual reports on labour inspection activities containing information on laws and regulations relevant to the work of the inspection service under Article 21(a), staff of the labour inspection service under Article 21(b), statistics of workplaces liable to inspection and the number of workers employed therein under Article 21(c), statistics on penalties imposed under Article 21(e), statistics of industrial accidents under Article 21(f) and statistics of occupational diseases Article 21(g). The Committee also requests the Government to take measures towards the registration of workplaces and the improvement of its data collection system in all sectors, and to provide updated information in this regard.

The Committee has noted that no new labour inspectors have been recruited at the central level since 2021. The Committee also notes that a few states and union territories have recruited new labour inspectors between 2019–24, reported as follows: 349 in Bihar, one in Meghalaya and 15 in Rajasthan.

The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken to strengthen the human resources and material means at the disposal of labour inspectors to secure the effective discharge of their duties.

Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that labour inspectors have the power to initiate legal proceedings without previous warning. However, the Committee notes that section 110 of the OSH and Working Conditions Code and section 54(3) of the Code on Wages still provide that proceedings against an employer for any offence shall not be initiated by inspectors before an opportunity is given to the employer concerned to comply with relevant provisions within a certain time frame.

The committee noted that between 2019 and 2024, according to the statistics provided by the Government, the number of unannounced inspections at the central level has significantly decreased from 11,246 in 2022–23 to 5,509 in 2023–24, while the number of announced inspections has increased from 9,022 to 13,202. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that, in law and in practice, labour inspectors are able to initiate legal proceedings without previous warning, in conformity with Article 17 of the Convention.

The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the application of Article 17 of the Convention in practice, including instances when inspectors have deferred initiation of proceedings in application of section 110 of the OSH and Working Conditions Code and section 54(3) of the Code on Wages.

In addition, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the reasons for the significant decrease in the number of unannounced inspections in the central sphere, and to continue to provide statistics in this regard. The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government of India. (IPA Service)