This paper critically examines India’s recent labor reforms, focusing on the four Labor Codes and the Draft National Labor and Employment Policy. While the policy articulates an inclusive, digitally enabled vision of labor governance, the accompanying legal framework prioritizes flexibility, administrative centralization, and employer discretion. The analysis highlights contradictions between the policy’s rhetoric of dignity and empowerment and the Codes’ dilution of core labor protections, including collective bargaining and job security. Implementation has been uneven, marked by federal resistance, technological limitations, and weakened tripartite mechanisms. The paper argues that these reforms risk institutionalizing a minimalist, deregulated labor regime under the guise of formalization. It calls for a recalibration grounded in participatory policymaking, enforceable rights, and robust regulatory capacity.