The fundamental question is if these new labour laws brought in
by States as a result of the pandemicsecure the good of the workers
or safeguard the interests of the employers?
When the bubonic plague struck the city of Ahmedabad in 1917,
about 10 per cent of the population succumbed to it. As the plague
was much more severe in the towns than in the villages, the workers
employed in the textile industry wanted to return to the relative
safety of their villages. To prevent an exodus, mill owners handed
out "plague bonuses" to their staff which ranged from 20
per cent to 70 per cent. However, the prices of essential
commodities, too, went up manifold due to the outbreak. After the
contagion subsided, the employers stopped paying the plague bonus
to their workers, who in turn protested as the prices were still
high. They demanded a 50 per cent dearness allowance (DA) and there
were strikes. To break the impasse, the Collector of Ahmedabad
invited Mahatma Gandhi to
