INDIA CAUGHT IN THE MIDST OF THE IMPERIALIST GLOBALISATION.
Paper presented by P.K.Murthy
at Caceres –Spain in a Seminar organised by IEPALA/FMA
on 26th June 2010
In India, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Finance Minister make periodic claim about
having steered the Country out of the negative impact of the Global Financial Crisis and about
India being on a “ Growth “ trajectory, the reality is that vast masses of the people are suffering
from ever intensifying miserable conditions due to unprecented price rise, unemployement and
under-employement and commercialisation of all welfare and service sectors with even heath and
education not been spared.
The Prime Minister , who is an IMF nominee and the Congress led UPA ( United Progressive
Alliance ) under him are acting with a vengeance to pauperise the masses and to devastate the
Country in order to fatten the elite classes and their imperialist masters
While bailouts and stimulus packages are being doled out by the governments of the imperialist
triad – US, Europe and Japon in a bid to pull out their economies from the quagmire of this crisis
variously named as – Financial Meltdown, Financial Crisis, Recession and Economic Downturn.
- The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of the Congres led United Progressive Alliance,
in power in India even quite recently made loud pronouncements that this global pheno
menon concerns the USA and Europe and would not have much impact on the Indian
economy as it was de-linked, insulated and decoupled from the imperialist economies.
- That the crisis is essentially the crisis of Capitalism as a system is an uncontestable fact.
It is not merely a financial crisis - it is an economic crisis, a food crisis, a natural
ressour ces crisis, an ecological and environement crisis, a social crisis, a cultural crisis,
a political crisiis thus showing the hollowness of the much acclaimed capitalist system.
-
Never was the Indian Economy totally free from the influence of imperialist capital and in the
race to capture the markets and resources of the country, contention of the various
imperialists’ capital was discernible. The Indian ruling classes have been adopting the
IMF/WB’s diktats since the ‘80s and this process culminated with the now infamous New
Economic Policies in the ’90-92. All the features of the SAP ( Structural Adjustment
Programes came into play with reduction of government subsidies, cut in welfare spending,
particularly for education and health, privatisation of public sector undertakings and removal
of restrictions on inflow of foreign capital, allowing it to flow freely into the country.
- Capital shoudl have full freedom to “hire and fire” labour was what the World Bank
was insisting on since the late ‘80s. In line with this understanding, the New Economic
Policies contained an important element and that was“Labour Market Flexibility”
This “ Flexibility” meant replacement of permanent labour by contract labour, laws to
allow capitalists for easy retrenchment and closure. Due to protests and struggles
led by various trade unions such changes in labour laws have not been introduced but
“Labour Flexibility” is already there. Privatisation in the public sector undertakings
led to job losses as well as contractualisation of labour.
- The last 18 years have demonstrated the adverse effect of these policies imposed by
the IMF/WB/WTO diktats on the broad masses in India particularly the working class
and the peasantry.
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It was in this period that the country witnessed a spate of suicides
by farmers in some provinces and the agrairian economy being badly mauledup. The
MNCs are allowed to every aspect of agricultural production from seed production .
Even after the pernicious aspects of Bt Cotton cultivation with increasing peasants
suicides, Bt Brinjal and other genetically modified seeds are finding advocates
among ministers and leaders. Contract, Corporate, MNCs farming is being spread
to more areas Millions of acres of agricultural land is taken away in the name of real
estate and development projects
-
In the industrial and the service sectors, the structure of employement was dinstinctly
characterised by contractualisation and casualisation of the labour force. In the last
18 years, temporary labour replaced the regular workforce in both the public and the
private sectors and consequently, there had been a drastic reduction in employement
on regular basis. It could be noted that such a structure enables the owners to depress
wages of , and to disorganise, the workers. Due to lack of any security of employe
ment, organising the contract or casual workers becomes a difficult task.
‘Outsourcing’ is another feature that has emerged under the New Economic Policies,
wherein works generally performed by the workers of a company are handed over to a
contractor who employs labour on contract with the least wages. This is one form of
reducing costs of production, the burden of which falls on the wages of the workers.
-
In India , there are 37 millions working in the organised sectors of the economy and
around 370 million in the unorganised sectors. Out of this entire workforce only 40
million have the benefit of social security in the form of Provident and Pension Funds.
Even on this, the interest rate was cut to 8.5% from 12%. Not only this, the only
savings of the workers were put in danger when the government decided to put these
funds in the hands of private corporate players to invest them in the stock market.
-
Liberalisation, privatisation, globalisation, deregulation etc.., were hailed by the rulers as
paths to the economic development of the country. Growth rates were shown as indicators
of development and as vindication of their policies. Needless to say, this growth was fueled
primarly by inflows of foreign capital and that too speculative capital, resulting in the
creation of bubbles in the share markets. So tied is the Indian economy to the strings of
Imperialism, that when the bubble in the US burst, it had its version in the Indian bubble of
growth bursting.
-
The worst affected by the crisis are the labouring classes – workers and peasants who had
been victims of the longtime economic policies pursued by the indian ruling classes at the
instances of the imperialist triad. In particular, the workers in the export-oriented units had
to bear the brunt of the crisis.
* It is estimated that around 15 million workers are employed in these units. In the
textile and garments sector, some 700,000 workers lost jobs by the end of 2008 and in
the last four months, another 500,000 had been added to the unemployed.
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* The leather industry engages around 2,500,000 workers and between September and
December 2008 some 500,000 were displaced from work. It was predicted by the
Leather Exporters’Association that another 500,000 would lose their job in the
coming period .
* The city of Surat in the state of Gujarat has a large concentration of diamond and
jewelry units. There were 3,000 units before the onset of the crisis. The crisis has
gobbled up some 2,000 units rendering about 100,000 workers jobless.
* In the foundry industry, over 150,000 workers lost their jobs.
* The so-called sunrise industry, the IT sector which mainly caters to the US
markets,has also been hit by the crisis. In the city of Bangalore, the main IT hub in
the country, some 10,000 employees were shown the doors between September and
December 2008. In Hyderabad, some 25,000 employees lost their jobs in the IT
sector.
* Not only these export-oriented sectors but also those sectors that are dependent on
these have been badly affected. It is estimated that job losses during this period both
in the export units and ancillaries could well cross 5,000,000.
Way back, the government appointed a Task Force on Employement Opportunities which declared
that India would solve the unemployement problem by 2012. In 2007, gloating in the glory of high
growth rates, the Economic Advisory Council declared that these would be Zero unemployement
in the country by 2009. The grim reality is that the problem of unemployement has assumed
serious proportions in the last one year under the impact of the global crisis. While job losses in
both the manufacturing and services sectors are on the rise, wage depressions is also a serious
factor affecting the lives of the workers. In the midts of job losses, the Finance Minister of the
country had recently a piece of advice to the capitalists in the country – “do not retrench but cut
wages”.
Manmohan Singh’s performance after the one year of the UPA-II was disappointing
and directionless. UPA’s I constructive programmes guided by Common Minimum
Programme under pressure of the Left which supported it from outside are neglected.
*
National Rural Employement Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) renamed as the
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employement Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)
and the associate schemes – Midday Meals Scheme and the Child Development
Services have no priority with the UPA-II . Promises of a National Food Security
Act and an effective public distribution system (PDS) are yet to come with lack of
political will from the government.
* The Women’s Reservation Bill perceived as a key piece of legislation in the
empowerement of the neglected sections of society exposed the half hearted
attitude of the Congress and its UPA’s partners.
* The Right of Education Bill and the Communal Violence Bill have been critised
* All these failures and half measures are accentuated by the systematic malfunction
ning and corruption charges of the UPA-II.
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The US remains a high priority in India’s foreign policy with the US-India partner
set to deepen and broaden. Manmohan Singh bent upon rammed the Nuclear Deal
down the throat of the Nation. Inspite of the shameful and treacherous Union
*
Carbide Bhopal Genocide’s Verdict, Manmohan Singh is up to protect US’s
nuclear firms in case of accidents.
In the backdrop of the growing job-losses, wage cuts, land losses and cuts on other social
benefits, a ground for mass resistance to defend jobs, wages and to oppose closure, retrenchment
and new anti labour laws and the grabbing of agricultural land do exist from the bench of the
Narmada to the deep forests of Orissa and to the urban centers. As it happens everytime, at the
call of the All India Joint Coordination Committee of the Trade Unions, all sections of the people
workers and peasants irrespective of their allegiance to the political parties join the strike and
struggle for their rights. Any change in this situation can happen only if the people are organised,
aroused and mobilised to oppose and to challenge the imperialist dictated reactionaries policies
of the ruling elites/ classes at the Center and the States.
Earlier, the BJP led NDA (National Democratic Alliance) trumpeted about “ India Shinning “
while millions were starving and were getting pauperised under the same neo-liberal policies.
The NDA got ousted in 2004. Now the UPA of the Congress by speeding up the implementation
of the very same neo-liberal policies which were rejected by the vast masses in the Country is
claiming arrogantly that India is “ Growing and fast Develpping “. It too, is awaiting for the same
fate.
Paper presented by P.K.Murthy
at Caceres –Spain in a Seminar organised by IEPALA/FMA
on 26th June 2010
- Lal Zhanda Coal Mines Mazdoor Union
Center of Indian Trade Unions – CITU. India
- World Forum for Alternatives. WFA/FMA
- World Social Forum. WSF/FSM
.
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