The Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) is a law in India which was established to ensure the delivery of certain services, which if obstructed would affect the normal life of the people.[1] This include services like public transport (bus services), health services (doctors and hospitals) etc.[2][3] The ESMA is a central law, that is, a law made by the Parliament of India; but the descretion on the execution of it mostly lies with the state governments. Each state in the union of India, hence has a separate state Essential Services Maintenance Act with slight variations from the central law in its provisions. This freedom is accorded by the cental law itself.
A very powerful law it is, but the execution of it rests entirely on the descretion of the government (state executive, to be more specific). And it is a law very little used in India. Many strikes, by public transport providers or staff, doctors, or government employees went continuously for weeks have left unacted by the union government as well as the state governments at various times, and the citizens forced to move the court for implementing ESMA. And there have been numerous instances where the executive was forced by the court order to declare ESMA over a strike and the strike being called off overnight.[4]
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The law presently in effect is the Essential Services Maintenance Act, 1968. But it has a long history of evolution through which it came into the shape it is in right now. A shorter law by the same name existed in 1952, which came to replace the 'Ordinance XI' of 1941.[5]
The law in effect is the Andhra Pradesh Essential Services Maintenance Act of 1971.[6]
The Kerala Essential Services Maintenance Act, 1994. This is the law in effect in the state of Kerala since 1994. As is the general rule, it has slight variations in the provisions of the law from the central act. What existed before this act was the Kerala Essential Services Maintenance Ordinance of 1993.[7][8]
In Rajasthan this law is known as RESMA(Rajasthan Essential Services Maintenance Act)