Knowing More On Reforms In India

Reforms are measures taken by the government to introduce new policies to improve the financial, economic, and political conditions in the country. India has initiated many economic and data reforms in the telecom, banking, and insurance sectors. Reforms in India refers to a policy initiative in India, which began in 1991, that attempted to improve the country’s economic performance by reducing government regulations and increasing government efficiency. This has been a continuous process since 1991 and is ongoing, with some major improvement in reforms in India taking place in 2016. The prominent economic reforms in India include liberalisation,  Privatisation /denationalisation, globalisation, and corporate social responsibility. The Indian government’s current focus is spotlighting reforms that promote ease of doing business in India.

The Need for Improvement of Reforms in India

After the 2007-08 global economic crisis, India’s growth rate slipped to 7.4% in 2011-12, compared with China’s 8.2%, according to a report by the World Bank. The government treasury was running dry, and the stock markets and the agricultural sector were all affected. Therefore, to strengthen the Indian economy, economic reforms were devised. Such reforms act as guiding principles and are revised and improved from time to time. Some of the reasons to bring improvements in the reforms are as follows:

• The earlier laws were inconsistent, archaic, complex or had loopholes; therefore, reforms in the law are necessary. 

• To achieve transparency and uniformity in the laws. 

• Put the country on the sustainable, strong, and inclusive growth path.

• Since the majority of India’s economy depends on agricultural activities, reforms in agriculture laws to improve farmers’ conditions in India are necessary. 

• The huge increase in population and limited work options.

• To increase employment and enhance the ease of having a business start-up.

The improvement in reforms in India is needed to overcome critical problems, weaknesses, and loopholes prevalent till now. According to some economists and trade experts, those reforms are truly needed for the development of India. In the last few years, several reforms have been initiated by the government in various areas. 

1. Agriculture reforms

Agriculture reforms were aimed specifically for the growth of the farmers. These reforms offer farmers the flexibility and right to choose the seller for their production. It also helps farmers by increasing their income and reducing consumer prices. 

These are the agriculture reforms in India:-

• E-nam (electronic national agriculture market), 

• PM-Kisan (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme), 

• The organic farming policy and the proposed irrigation initiatives.

• The Land Acquisition Act 2013.

2. Debt and Economic reforms

Economic reforms are fundamental changes brought about in the economic and trade laws in 1991 to increase the country’s economic growth rate.

In 1991, Narasimha Rao, the former Prime Minister of India, implemented these economic reforms to boost internal and external trust in the country’s economic growth. Liberalisation, privatisation, and globalisation are the main types of economic reforms. Economic reforms were needed because of the poor performance of public sectors. Moreover, heavy external debt resulted in a fall in exports. Data reforms consist of the concept of data collection and usage. 

In current times, data reforms in India will integrate the social security scheme for everyone, with a personal identification number being mandatory for each citizen. Data reforms are one of India’s National agendas for governance; it combines the Digital India initiative and the India stack concept. Therefore, these data and economic reforms play an immense role in the country’s economic growth.

3. Labour reforms

Labour reforms help in the improvement of labour conditions in India. Several initiatives such as legislative, administrative, and e-governance are taken for the generation of employment and to enhance the ease of starting businesses through state and central government labour reforms.

The four important labour codes are Codes of Wages, Industrial Relation Code, Social Security Code, Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions Code. 

Labour reforms in India need to be improved to raise India’s ranking on the Ease of Doing Business index. It is important to note that India is currently at the 37th rank and has been mentioned as a complex jurisdiction. Labour reform is an important part of the reform agenda in India. The Government of India is working to adopt labour reforms to reduce employers’ compliance burden, create more jobs, and improve the environment for doing business. The labour reforms encourage individual employers, provide transparency, and establish an efficient workers’ compensation scheme.

4. Women’s Empowerment in the Labour Law

Every sector can include women as employees equal to the male employees. At the same time, the focus is on the safety and security of labour, be it women or men employees. While on the night shift, safety precautions need to be taken by employers in the case of a female employee. Even though the female workforce in India is rising, women workers have to fight several problems like domestic violence at home, social pressure, and sexual harassment at work. To encourage more participation of women in the workforce, some important reforms have been made in the past. Any new labour law for women workers should address the problems. 

Conclusion

Reform means changes and improvements are carried out in law or social systems, or institutions to better the country’s people. Reforms in India are essential for various reasons for the growth and development of the country. The state and central governments are taking various steps for reforming the laws in India, such as legislative, administrative, and e-governance for the generation of employment and to enhance the ease of starting businesses. The reforms regarding labour provide more rights to the workers at the workplace and introduce changes in the present laws to apply to society.