02175nam a22001577a 4500999001900000008004100019100005300060245010300113260004600216300003600262520154400298773004601842906001101888942000701899952011101906 c527412d527412240828b ||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d aParvathy, Lakshmi and Kamath, Rajalaxmi 957570 aLabour contractors (Thekedaars) to human resource companies: Labour market intermediaries in India aThe Indian Journal of Labour Economics  a67(1), Jan-Mar, 2024: p.197-219 aLabour market intermediaries (LMIs) are gaining prominence in forging employment relations with principal employer and labour in a tripartite setting. In this article, we underpin the current literature situating LMIs in the global value chains (GVCs) and global production networks (GPNs) to its historical provenance that of the Indian labour contractor (thekedaar) by studying the role of the labour contractor in three globally pegged Indian colonial sites: the Indian Railways, the Bombay cotton mills, and the tea plantations. This historical analysis helps us understand the morphing nature of LMIs in India, post-2000, in the form of human resource companies (HRCs). For the latter, we use a novel dataset—companies registered under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, to extract those established to serve the purpose of LMIs. This data are juxtaposed with the theoretical framework that classifies LMIs into a typology of matchmakers, information providers and administrators. Given the long history and phenomenal diversity in practices of LMIs in India, we conclude that it is difficult to capture them within the existing classificatory frameworks and thus offers opportunities for theory extension. We conclude that though the thekedaars are evolving into a more sophisticated and formalised versions of human resource companies or Staffing Solution Companies, there has not been much change in their core functions as labour market intermediaries.- Reproduced https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41027-024-00477-6  aThe Indian Journal of Labour Economics  aLABOUR cAR 00102ddc40709402499aIIPAbIIPAd2024-08-28h67(1), Jan-Mar, 2024: p.197-219pAR132852r2024-08-28yAR