The question of economic development at the cost of social development has stirred many controversies in the history of independent India. The objective of this paper is to examine the social security of laborers inside the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in India. A cursory reading of the SEZ Act, 2005, does not reveal if the labor legislations in India are same inside and outside the SEZs. The only evident piece of information that the Act is clear about is that labor in the SEZs is subject to a modified regime which aims at non-implementation of labor laws within the SEZs in India. This paper further evaluates the question of formation of trade unions within the SEZs. Further, it evaluates the possibility of the workers going on a strike within the SEZs. The author proposes creation of a new legal regime for the implementation of labor laws within the SEZs.

The term Special Economic Zone (SEZ) covers a broad range of zones, such as Export Processing Zones (EPZs), industrial parks, free ports, enterprise zones, and others. Industrial free zones, industrial export zones, free trade zones (often presented as bonded platforms within countries heavily involved in transit trade), special economic zones (principally in China), bonded warehouses, technological and scientific parks, financial services zones, free ports, duty-free zones (destined for the retailing of dutyfree consumer goods to tourists) are also among the variants. EPZs have been a feature of Indian policy since 1960.1 “As an important feature of globalization, EPZs have been monitored by the ILO for over 20 years. Zones take many forms, including free trade zones, special economic zones, bonded warehouses, free ports and maquiladoras. The ILO has defined EPZs as “industrial zones with special incentives set up to attract foreign investors, in which imported materials undergo some degree of processing before being (re)exported again”.

Law Review Journal, Rethinking, Implementation, Labor Laws Inside SEZs, India, Economic Development, Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Export Processing Zone (EPZ), Special Economic Zones, Social Security.