Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi recently announced that India must become Atmanirbhar (self-reliant).

An overwhelming majority of labor in India works in the informal sector without adequate social security. Simultaneously, the inflexibility of labor regulation prevents Indian firms from growing through labor expansion, incentivizing investments in capital instead.

India’s migrant workers have fallen through the cracks of its social security net, and government response has shown a significant gap between high-minded intentions reflected in existing laws and their implementation.

Statutory regulatory authorities are bound by the same principles of administrative law as other government agencies, as defined by the judiciary from time to time.