Opinion | Labour Day: Remembering A Four-Letter Word Missing In BJP's Campaign

“When the UPA were in power, they said that Muslims have the first right to the country's wealth. This means that they will collect wealth and distribute it to whom? Those who have more kids, those who are infiltrators” - Exhibit 1. The Prime Minister of India at an election rally, April 21, 2024.

“A woman's mangalsutra is not just about its price, but it is a symbol of all her dreams… and ‘they' will snatch it away” - Exhibit 2. The Prime Minister of India at the same election rally.

“Congress is making an alliance with all those who praise Mughal emperor Aurangzeb” - Exhibit 3. The Prime Minister of India at an election rally, April 28, 2024.

To what level has the discourse for the 2024 Indian election sunk. Can it plummet any lower in the month of May? In all this manic rhubarb, this columnist feels like using a four-letter word. So let's use it. JOBS.

A pre-poll survey by a prominent think-tank revealed that three out of five respondents believe unemployment is the single most important election issue. But the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) star campaigner and his acolytes are in diversionary mode - scrambling Mughals, Muslims, Mangalsutra, mutton and Nehru. As you read this column on Labour Day (May 1), here are seven reasons why the word ‘JOBS' is never mentioned by leaders of the party seeking a third term.

1. Data culled from the Reserve Bank of India's monthly bulletins show that the unemployment rate was over 8% in 2023. Between October and December 2023, one out of every two individuals in the age group of 20 to 24 was unemployed. Four out of every 10 graduates are unemployed. India's youth accounts for four out of every five persons in the unemployed workforce.
2. Only one out of five Indians are currently working in manufacturing or IT services, while two out of five remain in agriculture. The share of manufacturing, which could have created jobs for the youth, has shrunk to 13% of the overall output. It is 28% in China.
3. As per the Labour Bureau, an agricultural labourer earns only Rs 378 per day. A non-agricultural labourer earns Rs 377 per day, while a construction worker earns Rs 422 per day. A female labourer's real wage in 2023 was even less than what a male labourer's real wage was in 2015.
4. World Bank data reveals that in 2021, as many as 63 crore people earned less than Rs 308 per day, and 18 crore people earned less than Rs 180 per day. India has the world's highest number of ‘zero-food' children, with 67 lakh of them going without food for an entire day.
5. We averaged out the numbers for both men and women, between 2015-23. The real income of an agricultural labourer has increased by Rs 3 per annum, while for a construction worker, it has increased by Rs 2 per annum. For non-agricultural labourers, the increase has been just Rs 1 per annum.
6. Data sourced from the International Labour Organization reveals that the growth rate of real wages between 2006 and 2013 was 6%. Between 2014 and 2021, it was just 1.4%.
7. In 2022-23, household savings hit a 50-year low, accounting for 5.1% of the GDP. Meanwhile, household assets dropped from 15% to 11% of GDP. Liabilities rose from 4% to 6% of GDP between 2020-21 and 2022-23. In simple terms, families had less money to save, owned fewer valuables, and owed more money than in previous years.

The informal sector generates over 80% of employment in India. Experts suggest setting up a special commission to strengthen this sector. National-level long-term policies need to be implemented for the enhancement of wages, healthy working conditions, access to formal credit, and labour codes for all who work in this sector.

Then there is the gig economy. A robust social security programme tailored for gig workers must be launched, offering essential benefits such as social security coverage, including health and accident insurance, and protection of worker's rights. A Resiliency Corpus must be set up to support gig workers in case of emergencies or during lean periods.

There are still a few weeks to go on the election trail. Will the four-letter word JOBS feature in BJP's campaign speeches? Or will it continue to be more rhetoric over another four-letter word: HATE?

Additional research: Dheemunt Jain, Ayashman Dey

(Derek O'Brien, MP, leads the Trinamool Congress in the Rajya Sabha)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author