ABSTRACT
Ten central trade union organisations have called for a nationwide strike on May 22 to protest against the “anti-worker and anti-people autocratic measures of the centre” and “the draconian changes in labour laws by state governments to facilitate more brutal and cruel exploitation of workers”. Since 2014, the Central government has been taking a slew of measures aimed at making far-reaching changes to India's labour laws premised on the grounds that they are antiquated, complicated, and an impediment to economic growth. The government of Madhya Pradesh has also issued a notification exempting new factories from the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act except those relating to lay off, retrenchment, and closure for a period of 1000 days from the date of publication of the notification.
