Manusmriti At Centre Of New Labour Policy? Congress Calls It A Retrograde Step

The Union government's new draft labour policy has triggered a political row for being "inspired" by ancient Hindu texts such as the Manusmriti, which codified the system of caste hierarchy. The draft National Labour and Employment Policy of the Ministry of Labour and Employment employs the word labour as rajdharma, the sovereign's duty, and sets work forth as a dharmic moral obligation in the "Indic worldview". Experts and opposition leaders do not agree, however, and argue that invocation of the Manusmriti contravenes the tenets of workers' rights, fair remuneration, and social justice the Constitution holds dear.

The working draft identifies that social norms view work as a moral and sacred responsibility that maintains social harmony, economic prosperity, and common good.

"Within the Indic system, labor is not merely a means of subsistence but an act of contribution to the greater order of dharma (righteous duty). According to this vision, all workers, from artisans, farmers, and teachers to factory laborers, are recognized as integral actors in the web of social creation," the policy read.

It also alludes to such early Hindu scriptures as the Manusmriti, holding that such writings defined the ethos of rajdharma, the sovereign's duty to deliver justice, fair wages, and protection against exploitation to labor.

The Congress on Wednesday charged the Modi government with going back on the values of Manusmriti through the new draft policy. The party claimed that the paper upholds the text as the moral framework of governance of labor at the cost of contemporary democratic values.

Congress joint secretary Jairam Ramesh characterized the policy as an expression of the ideological leanings of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and blamed it for having "attacked the Constitution just after it was adopted".

'The Modi Government's working paper Shram Shakti Niti 2025, released last month for public feedback, explicitly avers that the Manusmriti situates 'the moral basis of labour regulation within India's civilisational heritage, centuries before the advent of modern labour law,'\" Ramesh said in an X post.