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Job Creation (The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions)
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On the 25th anniversary of India's economic
reforms, a general consensus seems to have emerged within the country and
without that the next phase reforms must address what has so far eluded
agreement among the principal stakeholders: land and labour. Make in India will
not happen if these two main factors of production remain entangled in
political one-upmanship.
The government has made some overtures in the
domain of land reforms, but the issues surrounding it have not yet fully
crystallized. Unless there is clarity and consensus around land reforms,
including land acquisition for implementing government's industrialization and
infrastructure development projects, the vision of converting India into a
global manufacturing hub will remain unrealized. It is essential to pursue
efforts towards a comprehensive land reforms policy relentlessly to bring the
matter to a satisfactory conclusion.
In the field of labour, the exercise for
rationalisation and consolidation of labour laws undertaken by the government
in the last two years has suddenly taken a breather. Despite earlier attempts
to push the agenda forward, the feeling that the main stakeholders were not
taken fully on board has provoked angry reactions among the major trade unions,
which have threatened a nationwide strike in September. Recognizing the
possible implications of unilateral action, the Prime Minister has reportedly
decided to proceed more cautiously in future by taking the workers'
representatives into confidence. The Total Investment & Insurance
Solutions
Industry lobby FICCI had set up a special
tripartite group to consult the stakeholders and make suitable recommendations
for the government's consideration. As convener of the special group, I held
extensive consultations and submitted my report making a host of
recommendations. Among other things, I advocated gradualism and proposed an
incremental approach to labour law reforms in place of the wholesale reforms
that were being attempted.
There really is no alternative to dialogue,
compromise and consensus in the realm of social re-engineering. The efforts may
appear tardy and frustrating at times, but sustainable results can be achieved
only if we are able to hone the strategy of tactical retreat with a view to
eventually finding the winning formula that will be acceptable to all.The Total Investment &
Insurance Solutions
The rolling back of government's publicly
announced EPF policies earlier this year is a case in point. The massive street
protests in Paris in April and May 2016 against the French government's labour
reforms that were perceived as pro-capitalist portend social unrest that may
become intractable if such sensitive matters are not handled with understanding
and empathy.
The fact that recent amendments to the Child
Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act encountered widespread criticism from
academia, social activists, international organizations like Unicef and others
exposes the absence of broad-based dialogue and consensus building that is the
cornerstone of progressive and sustainable labour reforms architecture. The Total Investment &
Insurance Solutions
Despite all the wishful rhetoric over the
last two years of the present government, it is now common knowledge that
enough jobs -- especially decent quality jobs -- are not getting created in the
economy, particularly in the organized manufacturing sector. The government
would do well to ensure that the frustrations of youth poised to enter the job
market are effectively contained. Towards this end, the recent announcement
about massive injection of funds for skilling and re-skilling potential job
seekers is most opportune.
The concerned department and agencies of the
government must quickly respond by setting up capacity and infrastructure to
absorb the funds and put them to best advantage. The youth are impatient and
care must be taken to ensure that the burning embers are not allowed to be
stoked by "indosceptics" who have a problem for every solution.
Clearly, job creation is the single most
important direction to follow in the next phase of reforms. If adequate numbers
of jobs are available in the marketplace, the resistance to labour reforms on
the part of the traditional trade union movement will surely mellow. The Total Investment &
Insurance Solutions
Meanwhile, the government should re-establish
confidence and trust among employers' and workers' representatives by
organizing impartial and meaningful tripartite consultations on labour reform
proposals that are doable. There is no point in biting off more than you can
chew. The priorities and pace of reforms must be carefully calibrated so that
the achievements can endure in the long run.
The government has three more years to go in
its first term. There is sufficient time to readjust the trajectory so that
results start showing before it must inevitably return to the hustings. Alarm
bells are not ringing just yet, but a gentle reminder is not out of order. The Total Investment &
Insurance Solutions
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