Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
in India
R Nagaraj,
Indira Gandhi Institute of
Development Research,
Mumbai.
Email: nagaraj@igidr.ac.in
UN Meeting
UN Meeting
October 2, 2007
UN Meeting
UN Meeting
UN Meeting
Labour Legislations
Mostly deals with the organised sector. Extent of
protection and benefits for workers rise with size of
firm or factory.
No national minimum wage; No economy-wide social
security.
Labour being a concurrent subject in the constitution,
states are empowered to enact separate legislations.
The legislations tend to aspirational, with limited
enforcement.
Best illustrated by the job-security law: firms
employing 100 or more workers are mandated to
seek the states permission to retrench or lay off a
worker.
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Employment Growth
Structural transformation agriculture's
share declining from 68.5% in 1983, to
55.4% in 2004-05 (table).
But, workforce is shifting more towards
services, than to industry.
Low or declining employment elasticity.
Between 1997 and 2004, 1.8 million
(6.3%) jobs lost in organised sector
including 1.2 million (18%) in
manufacturing.
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Wages
Agricultural wages have since 1980s;
yet lower than the minimum wages (for
lack of enforcement of the laws).
Wages still low to overcome absolute
poverty.
Casualisation of wage contracts in all
sectors.
Decline in self employment, especially
in agriculture.
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Major Concerns
Little improvement in employment
scene, despite acceleration in output
growth since 1980.
Deceleration in agriculture since 1990 (
Figure 1), causing agrarian distress
farmers suicides, political extremism.
Alleged labour market rigidity in the
organised sector.
Inadequate freedom for employers to hire
and fire workers.
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Alternative Perspectives on
Labour Market
Rapid industrialisation to speed up
structural transformation:
Invest in industrial infrastructure.
Liberalise financial sector and foreign
investment rules .
Dismantle labour market legislations.
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NREGS II
Implemented by local elected selfgoverning institutions.
In 2006-07, Rs 11300 ($2.8 bn) are
allotted for this scheme, making it
perhaps the worlds largest EGS.
As on December 2006, 536.5 million
person days of employment has been
generated, official data show.
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NREGS III
The EGS, together with Right to Information
Act, implemented by local bodies has great
potential, say the protagonists of the EGS.
But, critics have dubbed the EGS the
massive gravy train, with enormous
potential for corruption.
On the ground, implementation is uneven
with some encouraging reports from
backward states, like Rajasthan where local
institutions seem active.
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Evidence?
No nominal or real wage rigidity.
In unit labour cost (Figure 2).
True in public sector too (Figure 3).
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In Sum I
Economic growth accelerated since 1980,
without a corresponding increase in
employment.
Structural transformation has happened
since 1980s, but employment growth has
occurred more in services than in industry.
Income poverty is said to have declined,
but nutritional poverty has not, as
employment growth has not improved.
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In Sum II
Orthodoxy advocates market oriented
reforms, infrastructure investment and
deregulating the labour market to speed
up industrialisation to transform the
workforce rapidly.
Heterodoxy argues for improving
agriculture productivity which is still
1/3 of chinas to augment employment
and expand domestic market.
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In Sum III
NREGS was launched last year,
perhaps the most ambitious EGS in
the world.
With RTI and local self government
institutions, there is a better chance
of its success.
But, critics dub it as the biggest
grave train of corruption.
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In Sum IV
Reformists believe lack of flexibility in industrial
labour market is holding up industrial out and
export growth.
Evidence does not seem to support such a
proposition.
But it does not mean that the labour market is
working fine far from it.
Need to a new compact between capital and
labour in the changed economic environment
that includes income security, more rational
labour laws, and greater shop floor democracy.
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Thank You
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1996-97
1994-95
Strikes
1992-93
1990-91
1988-89
1986-87
1984-85
1982-83
Lockout
26
Index
100
80
60
40
20
20
01
99
97
95
93
91
89
87
85
83
81
Year ending
Wage-rental ratio
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1983
1993-94
2004-05
%
GDP
%
Workfor
ce
%
GDP
%
Workforc
e
%
GDP
%
Workfor
ce
Agricul
ture
40.0
68.5
30.0
64.0
20.2
56.5
Industr
y
24.3
13.8
25.2
14.9
26.1
18.8
Service
s
35.7
17.6
48.8
21.1
53.7
24.8
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