MGNREGA, 2005 — Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act

Objective

To enhance livelihood security in rural areas by guaranteeing at least 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer for unskilled manual work — while also creating durable productive assets (water conservation, rural roads, land development).

Beneficiaries

Adult members of rural households willing to do unskilled manual work, with a legal mandate that at least one-third of beneficiaries be women; strong participation of SC/ST households.

Key Provisions

A justiciable "right to work" through a Job Card; work provided within 5 km (or a 10% extra wage for distance); unemployment allowance if work is not provided within 15 days; wages paid within 15 days (via DBT); and social audit by the Gram Sabha to check corruption. It is demand-driven, not target-driven.

Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009

Objective

To operationalise Article 21A (inserted by the 86th Amendment, 2002) by guaranteeing free and compulsory elementary education as a fundamental right.

Beneficiaries

All children in the 6–14 age group, with special protection for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and disadvantaged groups.

Key Provisions

Free and compulsory schooling up to Class 8; 25% reservation for EWS/disadvantaged children in private unaided schools (state reimburses fees); ban on capitation fees and screening; norms for infrastructure and pupil-teacher ratios; School Management Committees. (A 2019 amendment allowed states to reintroduce detention in Classes 5 and 8 with re-exam.)

National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013

Objective

To provide food and nutritional security by ensuring access to adequate quantities of quality food at affordable prices — converting food access into a legal entitlement.

Beneficiaries

Up to 75% of the rural and 50% of the urban population (about two-thirds of India), through Priority Households and the poorest Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) category; plus pregnant/lactating women and children.

Key Provisions

5 kg of food grains per person per month for priority households (and 35 kg per AAY household) via the Public Distribution System; maternity benefit for pregnant women; mid-day meals and take-home rations for children; the eldest woman (18+) is deemed head of household for the ration card; grievance-redressal officers; and portability under One Nation One Ration Card.

Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006

Objective

To recognise and vest forest rights and occupation in forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribes (FDSTs) and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFDs), correcting the "historical injustice" done to them by colonial and post-colonial forest laws.

Beneficiaries

FDSTs, and OTFDs who have primarily resided in and depended on the forest for at least three generations (75 years).

Key Provisions

Individual Forest Rights (self-cultivation, habitation, up to 4 hectares of occupied land); Community Forest Rights and Community Forest Resource rights; rights over minor forest produce; and — most powerfully — the Gram Sabha as the authority to initiate the process of determining claims and to consent to any diversion of forest land.

Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016

Objective

To give effect to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), ensuring dignity, equality, non-discrimination and full participation for persons with disabilities. It replaced the older 1995 Act.

Beneficiaries

Persons with disabilities — the recognised list was expanded from 7 to 21 disabilities (including autism, thalassemia, acid-attack victims, Parkinson's).

Key Provisions

4% reservation in government jobs (up from 3%) and 5% in higher education for persons with benchmark disabilities; mandatory accessibility standards (the "Accessible India" mandate); guardianship provisions; and Chief and State Commissioners for Persons with Disabilities as watchdogs.

Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019

Objective

To protect the rights and welfare of transgender persons, giving statutory shape to the Supreme Court's NALSA (2014) judgment recognising the third gender.

Beneficiaries

Transgender persons across the country.

Key Provisions

Prohibits discrimination in education, employment, healthcare and services; recognises the right to self-perceived gender identity; provides for a certificate of identity issued by the District Magistrate; and establishes a National Council for Transgender Persons for advice and monitoring.

POSH Act, 2013 — Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace

Objective

To provide protection against sexual harassment of women at the workplace and a mechanism for redressal — codifying the Vishaka Guidelines (1997) into statute.

Beneficiaries

All women at any workplace — organised or unorganised, permanent, temporary or contractual, including domestic workers — regardless of age.

Key Provisions

Every workplace with 10 or more employees must constitute an Internal Committee (IC); a district-level Local Committee (LC) covers smaller units and the informal sector; complaints filed within 3 months; inquiry completed within 90 days; and protection against retaliation, with duties cast on the employer.

POCSO Act, 2012 — Protection of Children from Sexual Offences

Objective

To protect children from sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography through child-friendly investigation and trial mechanisms.

Beneficiaries

All children below 18 years — the law is gender-neutral for victims.

Key Provisions

Graded offences (penetrative, aggravated, non-penetrative, harassment); Special Courts; mandatory reporting of offences; recording the child's statement in a friendly setting; and the 2019 amendment introducing the death penalty for aggravated penetrative sexual assault.

Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015

Objective

To provide for the care, protection, development and social re-integration of children in conflict with law and children in need of care and protection.

Beneficiaries

Children in conflict with law, and orphaned, abandoned or surrendered children needing care.

Key Provisions

Enacted after the 2012 Delhi case, it allows 16–18 year-olds to be tried as adults for heinous offences (after a preliminary assessment by the Juvenile Justice Board); sets up Child Welfare Committees; and streamlines adoption through the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA).

Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023

Objective

To provide for the processing of digital personal data in a way that respects both the individual's right to privacy and the need to process data for lawful purposes — the statutory follow-through on the privacy verdict.

Beneficiaries

Data Principals — the individuals whose personal data is collected and processed.

Key Provisions

Consent-based processing; rights for Data Principals (access, correction, erasure, grievance redressal); duties on Data Fiduciaries (and stricter duties on "Significant Data Fiduciaries"); Consent Managers; a Data Protection Board of India to adjudicate breaches; and penalties up to ₹250 crore.

Consumer Protection Act, 2019

Objective

To protect and promote the interests of consumers in the digital and e-commerce era, replacing the older 1986 Act.

Beneficiaries

All consumers, including online buyers.

Key Provisions

Creates the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) to act against unfair trade practices and misleading advertisements (including by endorsers); introduces product liability and e-commerce rules; provides a three-tier redressal system (District, State and National Commissions) with revised pecuniary limits; and enables mediation.

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016

Objective

To consolidate insolvency laws into a single, time-bound framework that maximises the value of assets of stressed firms, improves the ease of doing business, and deepens the credit market.

Beneficiaries

Financial and operational creditors, debtors seeking resolution, and the broader lending ecosystem (banks, NBFCs).

Key Provisions

A Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) to be completed within 330 days; a Committee of Creditors (CoC) that decides the resolution plan; licensed Insolvency Professionals; the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) as regulator; and the NCLT/NCLAT as adjudicators — a shift from "debtor-in-possession" to "creditor-in-control."

Companies Act, 2013

Objective

To modernise corporate governance — regulating incorporation, the responsibilities of companies and directors, disclosures and investor protection — and to make India the first country to mandate Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by law.

Beneficiaries

Shareholders and stakeholders; and, through CSR, society at large (education, health, environment, etc.).

Key Provisions

Mandatory CSR under Section 135 — companies with net worth ≥ ₹500 crore, turnover ≥ ₹1,000 crore, or net profit ≥ ₹5 crore must spend 2% of average net profit of the preceding three years on CSR; independent directors and at least one woman director on prescribed boards; the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA); and provisions for class-action suits.

RERA, 2016 — Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act

Objective

To regulate the real-estate sector, protect the interests of homebuyers, and bring transparency, accountability and timely project delivery.

Beneficiaries

Homebuyers/allottees (and honest developers, through a level playing field).

Key Provisions

Each state sets up a Real Estate Regulatory Authority; mandatory registration of projects and agents; developers must keep 70% of buyers' funds in a separate escrow account for that project; penalties for delay; standard carpet-area definition; and Real Estate Appellate Tribunals.

The Four Labour Codes (in force from 21 November 2025)

Objective

To consolidate and rationalise 29 central labour laws into four codes — the most significant labour reform since Independence — simplifying compliance for employers while universalising minimum wages and social security for workers. They came into force on 21 November 2025.

Beneficiaries

All workers — organised and unorganised — and, for the first time in a big way, gig and platform workers; employers also benefit from simpler, single registration and licensing.

The Four Codes

• Code on Wages, 2019 — universal minimum wage and a national floor wage; timely payment.
• Industrial Relations Code, 2020 — trade unions, standing orders and disputes; retrenchment/lay-off approval threshold raised from 100 to 300 workers.
• Code on Social Security, 2020 — extends PF, ESI and gratuity, and creates a social-security fund for gig & platform workers.
• Occupational Safety, Health & Working Conditions Code, 2020 — workplace safety; women permitted in night shifts with consent and safeguards.

Flagship New Provisions

A "50% wage" rule (basic pay must be at least half of total pay, raising PF/gratuity but trimming take-home); aggregator contributions (~1–2% of turnover) to the gig-worker fund; full-and-final settlement of dues within two days of exit; and an optional four-day work week (with longer daily hours).

Mental Healthcare Act, 2017

Objective

To provide mental healthcare and services for persons with mental illness and to protect, promote and fulfil their rights, aligning Indian law with the UNCRPD.

Beneficiaries

Persons with mental illness and those seeking mental-health services.

Key Provisions

Guarantees the right to access mental healthcare; effectively decriminalised the attempt to suicide (a person attempting suicide is presumed to be under severe stress and shall not be punished); allows an advance directive on treatment; sets up Mental Health Review Boards; and mandates insurance cover for mental illness on par with physical illness.

Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021

Objective

To regulate surrogacy, prohibit commercial surrogacy, and permit only altruistic surrogacy — preventing exploitation of surrogate mothers and children.

Beneficiaries

Intending infertile Indian couples (and, following amendments, eligible widows/divorced women); and surrogate mothers, who receive legal protection and insurance.

Key Provisions

Bans commercial surrogacy; allows only altruistic arrangements (no payment beyond medical costs and insurance); eligibility and age criteria for couples; the surrogate must be a willing close relative; and National and State Surrogacy Boards for regulation.

Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967

Objective

To provide for the effective prevention of unlawful and terrorist activities and to deal with threats to the sovereignty and integrity of India.

Beneficiaries

The state and society, through enhanced national security (with a corresponding civil-liberties debate).

Key Provisions

Empowers the government to ban organisations and — after the 2019 amendment — to designate individuals as terrorists; gives the National Investigation Agency (NIA) wider powers; allows attachment of property; and imposes stringent bail conditions.