CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTION OF WORKERS' RIGHTS: A SOCIO-LEGAL STUDY OF LABOUR LAW REFORMS IN KOLKATA AND NORTH 24 PARGANAS

Abstract

This paper undertakes a socio-legal inquiry into the constitutional protection of workers' rights within the urban-industrial landscape of Kolkata and
North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, India. Grounded in the Fundamental Rights (Part III) and Directive Principles of State Policy (Part IV) of the Constitution of
India, the study examines how labour law reforms at both the central and state levels have translated or failed to translate, into substantive rights for organised and
unorganised workers. Drawing upon primary field data collected from 200 respondents across both districts, supplemented by secondary legal analysis and judicial
precedent, the research finds significant inter-district disparities in constitutional awareness, trade union participation, access to statutory benefits, and employer
compliance with protective legislation. Employing chi-square tests and independent samples t-tests, the study establishes statistically significant differences (p <
0.05) between Kolkata and North 24 Parganas across all eight measured indicators. The paper argues that while India's constitutional architecture provides a robust
normative framework for labour protection, structural deficits in enforcement machinery, inadequate legal literacy, and the growing informalisation of labour
markets systematically undermine these protections. The study concludes with targeted policy and legal reform recommendations aimed at bridging the
implementation gap between constitutional promise and ground-level reality.