Speaking in Parliament on The Industrial Relations Code (Amendment) Bill, 2026 on Thursday, Darjeeling MP Raju Bista said that decades after Independence, several labour laws drafted during the British era continued to govern the country, describing them as outdated and in need of reform.
Mr Bista said the Narendra Modi government had consolidated 29 such labour laws into four labour codes ~ the Code on Wages, the Code on Social Security, the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, and the Industrial Relations Code ~ to modernise India’s labour framework.
According to him, the new codes aim to ensure timely payment of wages, introduce a national floor wage, mandate appointment letters for workers, promote gender equality at workplaces, and extend social security coverage to nearly 50 crore workers in line with international standards.
The MP also alleged that the Trinamul Congress government in West Bengal had not implemented the labour codes. He claimed that nearly 30 tea gardens in north Bengal have shut down in recent years, leading to migration among workers from indigenous communities.
Mr Bista further raised concerns over the issue of Parja Patta rights for tea and cinchona garden workers, alleging that while workers continue to await land rights, portions of tea garden land have been diverted for commercial projects. He urged the Centre to ensure that ancestral land rights of garden workers are protected.
He also stated that the Centre had allocated Rs 1,000 crore in FY 2024–25 for the welfare of tea garden workers in Assam and West Bengal. While Assam had utilised its share, he alleged that West Bengal was yet to do so. Mr Bista said he had requested that the funds be transferred directly to workers through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).