{"id":325729,"date":"2025-02-04T17:08:25","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T11:38:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=325729"},"modified":"2025-02-05T12:30:23","modified_gmt":"2025-02-05T07:00:23","slug":"labour-laws-must-include-mental-health-protection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/labour-laws-must-include-mental-health-protection\/","title":{"rendered":"Labour Laws Must Include Mental Health Protection"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Source<\/strong>: The post <strong>Labour Laws Must Include Mental Health Protection<\/strong> has been created, based on the article \u201c<strong>Eliminating elitism in mental health<\/strong>\u201d published in \u201c<strong>The Hindu<\/strong>\u201d on 4th February 2025.<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-325807 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Labour-Laws-Must-Include-Mental-Health-Protection.png?resize=750%2C497&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Labour Laws Must Include Mental Health Protection\" width=\"750\" height=\"497\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Labour-Laws-Must-Include-Mental-Health-Protection.png?resize=300%2C199&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Labour-Laws-Must-Include-Mental-Health-Protection.png?resize=1024%2C680&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Labour-Laws-Must-Include-Mental-Health-Protection.png?resize=768%2C510&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Labour-Laws-Must-Include-Mental-Health-Protection.png?w=1280&amp;ssl=1 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>UPSC Syllabus Topic:<\/strong> GS Paper2- Governance-Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector\/Services relating to Health.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Context<\/strong>: The article discusses the need to include mental health protections for blue-collar workers in India&#8217;s labour laws. It highlights gaps in existing laws, challenges workers face, and suggests policy changes to ensure their well-being, including employer responsibility and better awareness programs.<\/p>\n<p>For detailed information on <strong>Issues with Mental Health and Mental Healthcare in India <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/issues-with-mental-health-and-mental-healthcare-in-india-explained-pointwise\/\">read this article here<\/a><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why Should Mental Health Be Included in Labour Laws?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Mental health is important for workers, especially blue-collar workers.<\/li>\n<li>In 2024, the Economic Survey recognized mental health as an important factor for development.<\/li>\n<li>It reported that <strong>10.6% of Indian adults<\/strong> suffer from mental disorders.<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>treatment gap is between 70% and 92%<\/strong> (National Mental Health Survey, 2015-16).<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>WHO<\/strong> identified job insecurity, poor working conditions, and excessive workloads as key mental health risks. These risks mainly affect blue-collar workers.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><strong>What Are the Gaps in Existing Labour Laws?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><strong> No Recognition of Mental Health in OSHWC, 2020<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions Code (OSHWC), 2020<\/strong> focuses only on <strong>physical safety<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Section 6(1)(d)<\/strong> mentions a safe work environment but does not clearly include mental health.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sections 23 and 24<\/strong> define health only as <strong>physical well-being<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li><strong> Mental Health Not Covered Under CSC, 2020<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Section 2(28) and the third schedule<\/strong> of the <strong>Code on Social Security (CSC), 2020<\/strong> do not list mental health conditions as occupational diseases.<\/li>\n<li>Workers must prove a <strong>direct link between mental illness and work<\/strong>, making claims difficult.<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>Bombay High Court (1953)<\/strong> ruled that if work contributes to illness, it should be covered, but this is not reflected in the law.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol start=\"3\">\n<li><strong> Unequal Mental Health Support<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>White-collar employees<\/strong> have structured mental health programs (<strong>Infosys\u2019 HALE, Wipro\u2019s Mitra, and TCS\u2019 Employee Assistance Program<\/strong>).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Blue-collar workers<\/strong> lack similar protections and <strong>do not benefit from corporate mental health policies<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Government\u2019s Tele Manas initiative<\/strong> exists but <strong>many workers are unaware of it or hesitant to use it<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>What Can Be Done to Improve Mental Health Support for Workers?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Enact a Mental Health Law<\/strong> \u2013 Labour laws should protect both physical and mental health (<strong>OSHWC, 2020<\/strong> ignores mental well-being).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Expand Occupational Disease List<\/strong> \u2013 <strong>CSC, 2020<\/strong> should include work-related mental illnesses to reduce legal hurdles (<strong>Bombay High Court, 1953<\/strong> recognized mental stress as an occupational risk).<\/li>\n<li><strong> Employer Responsibility<\/strong> \u2013 Employers should provide mental health support like <strong>Infosys\u2019 HALE Program, Wipro\u2019s Mitra, and TCS\u2019 Employee Assistance Program<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Regulate Long Work Hours<\/strong> \u2013 CEOs promote <strong>70\u201390-hour workweeks<\/strong>, affecting worker well-being.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Increase Awareness<\/strong> \u2013 Employers must inform workers about <strong>Tele Manas<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Recognize Blue-Collar Workers<\/strong> \u2013 Include them in mental health policies.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>Question for practice:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Examine the challenges blue-collar workers face due to the lack of mental health protections in India&#8217;s labour laws and suggest possible solutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: The post Labour Laws Must Include Mental Health Protection has been created, based on the article \u201cEliminating elitism in mental health\u201d published in \u201cThe Hindu\u201d on 4th February 2025. UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper2- Governance-Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector\/Services relating to Health. Context: The article discusses the need to include&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/labour-laws-must-include-mental-health-protection\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Labour Laws Must Include Mental Health Protection<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":325807,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230],"tags":[300,212,10498],"class_list":["post-325729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","tag-governance","tag-gs-paper-2","tag-the-hindu","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Labour-Laws-Must-Include-Mental-Health-Protection.png?fit=1280%2C850&ssl=1","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=325729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/325807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=325729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=325729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=325729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}