Jobs, wages, inequity: ‘Guarantee check’ on Govt of India’s claims vs performance

Counterview Desk 
Bahutva Karnataka, a civil rights network* calling itself "forum for justice, harmony and solidarity" claiming to work for "promoting constitutional values", in a report, "Employment, Wages and Inequity", has sought to present official claims of the Government of India, juxtaposing them with evidence from official or other "credible" sources.
Released ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the report says that between 2011-12 and 2022-23, the share of the self-employed in the workforce has risen. "More than half of the men and more than two-thirds of women are presently ‘self-employed’ – a category that includes rural weavers, farmers, potters, urban roadside vendors, tailors, barbers, etc. as well as unpaid workers in small household enterprises", it notes.

It insists, "On the face of it, being self-employed sounds good but in reality, well-paying jobs with social security have shrunk and people are forced to resort to lowpaying self-employment options. Many are exercising this option instead of being in dire hunger or death."

Summary:

All data on employment and wages mentioned in this report are based on publicly available government data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), the now discontinued Employment-Unemployment Survey and the World Inequality Database. The results are representative of 49 crore workers in India.

Employment

Claim

• Two crore new jobs will be created every year
• The BJP government’s 2019 manifesto said: We will also encourage industries and corporates to generate better employment opportunities for women.

Reality

• 42% of graduates under the age of 25 are unemployed.
• Between 2011-12 to 2022-23, the share of the self-employed in the workforce has risen. More than half of the men and more than two-thirds of women are presently ‘self-employed’. Stagnant household earnings among the poor force more women to work even as unpaid helpers such as working without earnings in family farms or small shops because they cannot find any other remunerative employment.
• In the last 5 years, women working as unpaid household helpers has risen from 1 in 4 to 1 in 3.
• Many are exercising this option instead of being in dire hunger or death.
  

Wages

Claim

• In their 2019 manifesto, the BJP stated that- “Under our government, there has been a 42% growth in the National Minimum Wage. We will maintain the same direction over the next five years to ensure a respectable living for the workers.”

Reality

• Wages, in real terms, have stagnated across all the main categories of employment -- regular wage, self-employed and casual labour.
• An expert committee on wages, initiated by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India, led by Anoop Satpathy in 2019, said that the national minimum floor wages in India should be at least Rs 375 per day which translates to Rs 3,050 per week in 2022-23.
• Nearly 30 crore workers earn less than this threshold amount.
• 9 out of 10 casual wage workers, 3 out of 5 self-employed workers and half of the regular wage workers earn less than this threshold.
• More than 1 in 3 households are earning less than this minimum amount.
  
• 

All round development

Claim

• Sab ka Saath Sab ka Vikaas

Reality

• In nominal terms, the GDP per capita in the last 10 years has increased by 60%. However, the income share of the top 10% of the population has been increasing and now it is 60% while the incomes of the others is reducing.
• In 2012, 63% of the national wealth was held by the top 10%. This has increased to 64.5% in 2022. In 2012, the bottom 50% held 6.1% of the national wealth. This has further reduced to 5.6% in 2022.
  

Moving in the wrong direction

Given the situation where wages have not been increasing, the government should have ideally taken steps towards the following policy measures:
1. Right to food for all
2. Right to employment with living wages and timely payment of wages for all
3. Right to free and quality healthcare
4. Right to free and quality education
5. Right to pension
However, from this year’s budget we have seen that the budget allocations are moving towards the opposite direction . The budget allocation of five major social sector schemes (NREGA, NSAP, Mid-Day Meals, ICDS & PMMVY) has only been 0.40% of the GDP.
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*Bahutva Karnataka, Domestic Workers Rights Union, Slum Mahila Sanghatane, Data, Democracy and Development, Jagruta Karnataka and All India Central Council of Trade Unions