Congress accuses Modi government of reviving Manusmriti principles in labour policy

Highlighting a portion of the Union Labour Ministry’s draft Shram Shakti Niti, 2025, which takes inspiration from Manusmriti, the Congress on Wednesday (October 29, 2025) targeted the Narendra Modi government by alleging that it mirrors the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) tradition of preferring the ancient text over the Constitution.

Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh, in a post on X, claimed that the government is seeking to revive the principles of the Manusmriti, a Hindu religious text, through its new labour policy, and the move reflected the ideological influence of the RSS.

Mr. Ramesh claimed that the RSS had opposed the Constitution soon after its adoption for not being based on the Manusmriti. “The Modi government’s draft Shram Shakti Niti 2025, released earlier this month, explicitly claims that the Manusmriti embeds the moral basis of labour governance within India’s civilisational fabric, centuries before the rise of modern labour law,” he said in a post on X.

The Congress leader shared the text of the new policy, which says, “Ancient texts such as the Manusmriti, Yajnavalkyasmriti, Naradasmriti, Sukraniti, and Arthashastra articulated this ethos through the concept of rajadharma, emphasising the sovereign’s duty to ensure justice, fair wages, and the protection of workers from exploitation. These early formulations embedded the moral basis of labour governance within India’s civilisational fabric, centuries before the rise of modern labour law”.