As you all know, four factors of production contribute
to an economy’s progress. These four factors are land, labour, capital and
enterprise. All the four need detailed attention from thinktanks, analysts and
policymakers. Today, we shall focus on labour, also known as the human capital.
Even before one could understand the consequences of
denotification, the media became busy with fighting newsroom battles with
Pakistan and terrorists. They had no time for such unglamorous and tedious
issues like the Indian economy’s sudden downswing or the rising unemployment.
None of the superpatriotic news anchors seemed interested in asking why the
economic policies which were touted to send us zooming to the status of third
most powerful economy in the world flopped so miserably. What happened to Make
in India, Skill India, Swachch Bharat Abhiyaan and countless other campaigns
launched with sparkling fanfare? And, finally, why the promise of 2 crore jobs
has ended up in a terrible unemployment mess?
The media did have time to play and replay videos of
film stars who had died during this period. I have nothing against celebrities.
They play an important role in lending vibrancy to the society. But why ignore
those who form the bedrock of this very society – the ordinary worker? It is he
who keeps the wheels of our economy moving forward and still remains the most
ignored and vulnerable member of the family called Bharat, that is India.
The pandemic, interspersed with Shaheen Bagh violence,
cyclones and confrontation with China dumped the Indian economy – already a stepchild
of the God called Indian Media – into the oblivion. But the soul-incinerating
scenes of workers and their families trudging hundreds of miles from their
places of employment to their respective homes, many succumbing to death on the
way, brought the state of economy back into focus. Only for a while, though.
The flashpoints on our northern borders resulting in martyrdom of our soldiers,
have once again pushed a meaningful debate on the state of economy. The last
one heard anything related to the state of Indian economy was the loss of about
24 crore jobs. What happened after that? Only the Gods of Indian Media know, or
do they?
In pre-COVID 19 times around 25 crores or 45 percent
of the labour force found employment in the agricultural sector. But their
productivity is less than one-third or about 14 percent of the GDP. This
reflects poorly on the way our labour force has been managed and skilled.
Worse, these people are not only poorly paid and badly exploited by their
employers but also suffer from lack of job security or any kind of safety net
to protect them during the times of adversity.
What
about the rest of the labour force? They have not fared any better. The 2020
Economic Survey claims that 20 percent of the workforce is employed in the
formal sector. But many experts claim that the actual figure is no more than 10
percent. This is because many companies, even large ones, prefer to outsource
hiring of workers to private contractors – thus depriving them of any benefits
of the formal sector like guaranteed employment, pension, healthcare and other
benefits.
Since
labour is on the concurrent list, the central and state governments legislate
separately on this issue.
The
central government has been busy with getting rid of outdated labour laws and
replace them with the ones more relevant to today’s realities. In
November 2019, the Centre introduced the Industrial Relations Code (IRC) in the
Lok Sabha, on which the Lok Sabha Standing Committee on Labour published its
report in April. The Industrial Relations Code seeks to replace the Industrial
Disputes Act, 1947, the Trade Unions Act, 1926, and the Industrial Employment
(Standing Orders) Act with a unified code. It remains to be seen whether this
code will do any good to the ordinary worker or will cater to the convenience
of the big business.
One can
get a slight indication from certain straws in the wind. Uttar Pradesh has
suspended current labour laws for four years to attract capital investment. Madhya
Pradesh will exempt for 1000 days all new factories from the provisions of the
Factories Act, 1948. These exemptions relate to working conditions, health and
safety of workers. But there has hardly been a debate on these far-reaching
changes.
There are
more than 250 Central and state laws that grant protection to labourers by
regulating fair wages, conditions of work, overtime, leave, and social
securities through employment security. Legal experts point out that one cannot
arbitrarily suspend these laws as this would breach the constitutional requirements
under articles 21 and 24, etc. So, are the workers’ rights being adversely
affected? What is being done to improve their living and working conditions?
Has any thought been given to incentivise workers by providing them with
avenues for upgrading their skills and rise in their careers?
Here it
would be relevant to mention that a 2010 Oxfam report on ‘Social Discrimination
in India’, states that Dalits and Adivasis constitute the “highest proportion
of the population” in the informal sector workforce, with 89% of them living in
extreme poverty. Also, 85% of Muslims in the informal sector “find themselves
in lowest four income groups”. The hardest hit will be the 95% women working in
the informal sector. Their lot needs to be improved without resorting to
political considerations. This can be done by making various benefit schemes
more accessible, efficient and inclusive. There is an urgent need for setting
up suitable structures and systems that will provide opportunities for learning
new and improved skills while on job. They all are priceless assets to the
Indian economy as well as the nation as a whole.
Finally,
the state governments should restrain themselves from resorting to ordinances
to bypass existing laws for the benefit of a few corporate houses. It’s time for the government to consider all these
things while legislating a new labour law.
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