The Narendra Modi government has modified labour rules to encourage fixed tenure or contract jobs across all industries, signalling a shift in its employment generation strategy from job security to job creation.
The move is aimed at giving companies more flexibility in hiring employees and is expected to boost job creation. It will also help India climb the World Bank’s ease of doing business ranking as it removes restrictions on firing of employees.
The changes, made through a gazette notification dated 16 March, come at a time when the government is looking to address the problem of jobless growth—a major political challenge for the government ahead of the general election due in 2019.