In neoliberal terminology, the word “reforms” means just the opposite. The Union government “has lined up sweeping amendments in labour laws to woo amendments with changes aimed at drastically curbing rampant strikes (sic) diminishing the influence of trade unions and making the labour market more flexible. Plans are also afoot for simpler norms for small scale industries…” (The Hindustan Times, June 13). These are allegedly in line with PM Modi’s ambitious “Make in India” manufacturing campaign.
First of all, the bottom 2/3rds of India’s population ( 68.7% below the poverty line), cannot contribute to manufacturing for they neither have the opportunity or the skills. Retrenching labour means that more will be driven into poverty, further diminishing the market, and thus further reducing demand. The so called “Make in India” manufacturing campaign is just a bundle of already failed neoliberal policies advocated by the World Bank/IMF which have created havoc in the North as well as the Global South, as pointed out since the 1980s and intensively interrogated since. Not only will demand drop but manufacturing will not be competitive, since it is highly unlikely that the latest technology will reach India, since the WTO ensures no reverse engineering and there is little transfer of the latest technology from the North.
Where are the “rampant strikes?” Is the Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh a major trade union centre loyal to the sangh, also a threat? This is just slander. What will retrenched labour do? They will work, if at all, at much lower salaries, with breaks in service, and with no rights. Unemployment and poverty will grow. The makers of the Constitution warned against such calamities. Article 39(c) of the Directive Principles directed, “that the operation of the economic system does not result in the concentration of wealth and means of production to the common detriment.” Contrary to the Constitution it has. This is not “Make in India,” it is actually “Unmake India.”
(Kamal Chenoy is a Professor at SIS, JNU. This article is reproduced from his facebook post.)
