Freedom to work
Indian establishments must grow if they are to serve as the backbone for India’s economic success. Growing establishments have historically been the greatest contributors to productivity and employment in India. However, our labour regulations have hindered the growth of large-scale labour-intensive manufacturing in India. Labour regulations impose 47% of all compliances imposed on Indian establishments, thus forcing Indian establishments to either invest considerable resources in labour compliance or be criminals by failing to comply (TeamLease, 2020).
To achieve India’s vision of allowing more large-scale and labour-intensive manufacturing, it is necessary that governments introduce reforms to fast-track ease of doing business which (a) brings freedom for workers to work as many hours as they wish, and (b) allows enterprises the freedom to hire and engage workers in the way they see fit.
We partner with governments to work towards brick-by-brick reforms to the state labour regulations. In the past two years, we have: partnered with (a) the Government of Punjab to draft the state rules under the new Labour Codes and (b) the Government of Uttar Pradesh to reform the state’s Factories Rules; provided research assistance to the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) on thinking through reforms to labour regulations; and built an exhaustive list of legal provisions passed by the Union and state governments and a cross-state analysis of laws that sanction economic discrimination against women. As the next step of our research programme, we are studying the impact of this legal discrimination on outcomes for women in Indian states.
Read our report. Datasets attached to the report: Raw | Processed | Validated |
Re-processed | Indexed and scored
Freedom to build
Thoughtful urban development is critical to prosperity and sustainable development in India. Developed, well-managed, and productive cities can facilitate India’s desired goal of becoming a $5 trillion economy.
However, research shows that Indian cities leave twice as much urban land unbuilt as compared to world averages (Byahut et al., 2020)due to regulations that are not context-appropriate or growth-friendly. Our regulations make industry uncompetitive and housing expensive in cities. Restrictions on ground coverage, setbacks, parking, and height increase the cost of construction and inflate rents/prices. These standards make housing unaffordable and distort the market for residential/commercial/industrial land.
Prosperiti has put together a State of Regulation report which identifies reform opportunities in four building standards—ground coverage, setbacks, floor area ratio, and parking—across 10 states and the National Building Code (NBC). These four standards together are the binding constraint on usable urban land. This report provides a systematic evidence base to promote reforms to unlock urban land to help add jobs, reduce informality, boost business, and make cities more liveable. We are commencing a work programme to support the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) and individual states to fast-track urban regeneration through regulatory reform.
Freedom to educate
Private schools in India cater to over 120 million. Despite their remarkable growth in the last decade, they grapple with policy prejudice and regulatory burdens that limit their growth and quality.
While researchers have evaluated select regulatory and policy aspects of education governance, there is no substantive research into the use and impact of subordinate legislation. To fill in the existing gap regarding the impact of subordinate legislation on private schools, researchers at Prosperiti have collected, categorised, and analysed government orders and resolutions to regulate private schools.
Executed in four states, the research compendium and the database report the cost implication of government orders on private schools. The research estimates the time cost that schools spend in complying with the government order mandates.
