Conditions of Work and Employment

Conditions of Work and Unemployment

2.25 The intensified exploitation of the working class is the main danger of
the current phase of capitalist development. The crisis in the traditional
industries and the large–scale closure of small units have deprived lakhs
of workers of their livelihood. Employment in the public sector declined
from 194 lakhs in 1994 to 182 lakhs in 2004. Casualisation of labour,
outsourcing and widespread use of contract workers have subjected the
workers to greater exploitation and deprived them of their rights. Savage
attacks on workers for forming trade unions is a common occurrence
particularly in the northern states like Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana
and Uttar Pradesh. The central and state governments turn a blind eye to
labour laws being grossly violated and the rights of workers being denied.

2.26 Nearly two decades of liberalisation have led to the widening of
economic, social and regional inequalities. According to a recent report by
the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector
(NCEUS), by the end of 2004–05, about 836 million or 77 per cent of the
population were earning below Rs. 20 per day or Rs. 600 per month. The
per capita income in India in 2004–05 was Rs. 23, 241 a year or Rs. 1937 a
month. This per capita income is more than three times what is earned by
more than 77 per cent of the population.

2.27 According to the Annual Survey of Industries, the share of wages in
the net value in the industrial sector, which was 30.28 per cent in 1981–82,
has fallen steadily to 17.89 per cent in 1997–98 and further to 12.94 per cent
in 2004–05. According to the Eleventh Plan document, wage share in theorganised industrial sector has halved after 1980s and is now among the
lowest in the world.
28
(i) Based on a minimum wage as recommended by the National
Commission of Rural Labour of 1991, NCEUS has found that about 50
per cent of the men workers and about 87 per cent of women workers
in urban areas and 47 per cent of men workers and 87 per cent of
women workers in the rural areas get wages below the national
minimum wage.
(ii) The rate of unemployment has increased from 6.1 per cent in 1993–94
to 8.3 per cent in 2004–05.
iii) Unemployment among agricultural labour households has risen from
9.5 per cent in 1993–94 to 15.3 per cent in 2004–05.
(iv) Unemployment for rural males increased from 5.6 percent in 1993–94
to 8.0 per cent in 2004–05 while for rural females it increased from 5.6
per cent in 1993–94 to 8.7 per cent in 2004–05.
(v) Impoverishment and unemployment in the rural areas is leading to
large–scale migration of men and women to cities where they are
subjected to terrible exploitation.
(vi) The fact that 2.11 crore households from 200 districts demanded
minimum wages under the NREGA in 2006–07 is indicative of the
extent of joblessness and distress prevailing in the rural areas. The
distress due to loss of live lihood among the handloom weavers and
workers in traditional industries has led to suicides, the most glaring
being the suicides among weavers in Varanasi.

29 Due to imperialist globalisation and neoliberal policies, the plight of
the common people has worsened. The soaring land prices, real estate
speculation and the entry of FDI in real estate have put house sites and
housing out of the reach of the ordinary people including the middle class.
The corporatisation of the health system and the lifting of price controls on
drugs have made medical treatment and medicines prohibitively
expensive. The National Family Health Survey of 2005–06 has shown that
40 per cent of India’s under-three year old children are underweight, 23
percent are wasted (stunted) and 70 per cent anaemic. The Survey also
found that more than one-third of women are underweight and more than
half of women in India (55 per cent) are anaemic. All these point towards
the extent of malnutrition in the country. The privatisation of basic
services like water supply and electricity has further burdened the people.
The criminal gangs and the mafia in the urban areas are preying on the
people, making their lives and property insecure.

From Draft resolution of CPI (M) 19th Party Congress.