<p>Marx famously remarked that “Being determines consciousness.” The material conditions determine the thoughts, consciousness, and actions of the masses. The recent worker protests need to be analysed from this viewpoint. Over the past 12 years, the Narendra Modi government has attacked trade unions and workers’ rights. These attacks have been consistent, beginning with the introduction of fixed-term employment, the dilution of labour laws regarding wages and working hours during Covid-19, and the anti-worker labour codes. The common thread driving these attacks is the government’s overriding necessity to appease India’s ruling class of big monopoly capital.</p>.<p>We are the most unequal society in the nation’s recorded history. In his monograph From British Raj to Billionaire Raj, French economist Thomas Piketty states that income inequality today exceeds that of the oppressive colonial regime. The gains achieved in post-independence India – through the abolition of the zamindari system, limited land reforms, the nationalisation of banks, and the establishment of large public sector undertakings – have been reversed in the era of crony capitalism and neoliberalism over the past three decades.</p>.The glitter that faded away.<p>The champions of the free market have begun to question its path. Viral Acharya, former RBI deputy governor, wrote an influential paper critiquing the model of creating “national champions,” which has effectively created monopolies. He specifically identifies the Reliance, Tata, Aditya Birla, Adani, and Bharti Telecom groups as responsible for high inflation, citing their dominance in commanding prices despite significant reductions in input costs. During the Covid-19 pandemic, BJP-ruled states like Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh announced a moratorium on labour laws. The worsening material conditions cannot be swept under the carpet forever by diversionary tactics. The truth will out.</p>.<p>It is no surprise that in the face of corporate-controlled inflation, real wages are depressed. The political class, shorn of any representation of the working class, has paid scant attention to this issue. If real wages erode, people reduce spending, leading to a downturn in aggregate demand. Wage earners constitute the real majority of our society, and private household consumption contributes to roughly 60% of the GDP.</p>.<p>The economic survey of Karnataka estimates that 1.77 crore workers fall under the category of wage earners dependent on minimum wages. Assuming a modest increase of Rs 4,000 per month – and assuming only 50% of the eligible workforce actually receives it – this would translate to an annual income transfer of Rs 43,000 crore. Compare this with the budgetary allocation for the five guarantee schemes of the Karnataka government, which is around Rs 53,000 crore. Despite the magnitude of this issue, there is hardly a whisper about minimum wages in the corridors of power. The compounded inflation for 2012-2024 was 208%; the growth in minimum wages has not kept pace with it.</p>.<p><strong>Apathy is entrenched</strong></p>.<p>This neglect is no accident; it is deliberate and widespread. In February, the tripartite Minimum Wages Advisory Board in Haryana – comprising equal representation from employers, employees, and the government – unanimously recommended a minimum wage of Rs 23,400 for unskilled workers. The government ignored this consensus and unilaterally declared a minimum wage of Rs 15,300. Only when workers hit the streets was the issue grudgingly picked up by a media more concerned with traffic jams than the workers’ struggle for survival. The UP government, while proclaiming the role of external elements in the protests, issued a unilateral interim order to revise minimum wages in the aftermath of the protest, in a clear admission of guilt.</p>.<p>The minimum wage is defined as the cost of production and reproduction of labour power, representing the value of the “necessary means of subsistence.” This minimum is not just for physical survival but includes socially determined needs. The Minimum Wages Act of 1948 mandates a revision at least once every five years. Yet, states like Haryana and UP have not revised wages for 11 and 14 years, respectively. Karnataka has failed to notify new minimum wages since 2016-17, despite continued pressure from trade unions. The Supreme Court (People’s Union for Democratic Rights, 1982) ruled that paying less than the minimum wage constitutes “forced labour” under Article 23 of the Constitution.</p>.<p>The reality is that governments are apathetic, discarding scientific norms for calculating minimum wages in favour of arbitrary determinations. Poverty-level wages masquerading as minimum wages can no longer be accepted. The legally mandated, scientific revision of minimum wages across the country is the rallying cry of the recent protests in UP, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttarakhand.</p>.<p>(The writer is Secretary, AITUC Karnataka)</p><p><em>Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.</em></p>
<p>Marx famously remarked that “Being determines consciousness.” The material conditions determine the thoughts, consciousness, and actions of the masses. The recent worker protests need to be analysed from this viewpoint. Over the past 12 years, the Narendra Modi government has attacked trade unions and workers’ rights. These attacks have been consistent, beginning with the introduction of fixed-term employment, the dilution of labour laws regarding wages and working hours during Covid-19, and the anti-worker labour codes. The common thread driving these attacks is the government’s overriding necessity to appease India’s ruling class of big monopoly capital.</p>.<p>We are the most unequal society in the nation’s recorded history. In his monograph From British Raj to Billionaire Raj, French economist Thomas Piketty states that income inequality today exceeds that of the oppressive colonial regime. The gains achieved in post-independence India – through the abolition of the zamindari system, limited land reforms, the nationalisation of banks, and the establishment of large public sector undertakings – have been reversed in the era of crony capitalism and neoliberalism over the past three decades.</p>.The glitter that faded away.<p>The champions of the free market have begun to question its path. Viral Acharya, former RBI deputy governor, wrote an influential paper critiquing the model of creating “national champions,” which has effectively created monopolies. He specifically identifies the Reliance, Tata, Aditya Birla, Adani, and Bharti Telecom groups as responsible for high inflation, citing their dominance in commanding prices despite significant reductions in input costs. During the Covid-19 pandemic, BJP-ruled states like Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh announced a moratorium on labour laws. The worsening material conditions cannot be swept under the carpet forever by diversionary tactics. The truth will out.</p>.<p>It is no surprise that in the face of corporate-controlled inflation, real wages are depressed. The political class, shorn of any representation of the working class, has paid scant attention to this issue. If real wages erode, people reduce spending, leading to a downturn in aggregate demand. Wage earners constitute the real majority of our society, and private household consumption contributes to roughly 60% of the GDP.</p>.<p>The economic survey of Karnataka estimates that 1.77 crore workers fall under the category of wage earners dependent on minimum wages. Assuming a modest increase of Rs 4,000 per month – and assuming only 50% of the eligible workforce actually receives it – this would translate to an annual income transfer of Rs 43,000 crore. Compare this with the budgetary allocation for the five guarantee schemes of the Karnataka government, which is around Rs 53,000 crore. Despite the magnitude of this issue, there is hardly a whisper about minimum wages in the corridors of power. The compounded inflation for 2012-2024 was 208%; the growth in minimum wages has not kept pace with it.</p>.<p><strong>Apathy is entrenched</strong></p>.<p>This neglect is no accident; it is deliberate and widespread. In February, the tripartite Minimum Wages Advisory Board in Haryana – comprising equal representation from employers, employees, and the government – unanimously recommended a minimum wage of Rs 23,400 for unskilled workers. The government ignored this consensus and unilaterally declared a minimum wage of Rs 15,300. Only when workers hit the streets was the issue grudgingly picked up by a media more concerned with traffic jams than the workers’ struggle for survival. The UP government, while proclaiming the role of external elements in the protests, issued a unilateral interim order to revise minimum wages in the aftermath of the protest, in a clear admission of guilt.</p>.<p>The minimum wage is defined as the cost of production and reproduction of labour power, representing the value of the “necessary means of subsistence.” This minimum is not just for physical survival but includes socially determined needs. The Minimum Wages Act of 1948 mandates a revision at least once every five years. Yet, states like Haryana and UP have not revised wages for 11 and 14 years, respectively. Karnataka has failed to notify new minimum wages since 2016-17, despite continued pressure from trade unions. The Supreme Court (People’s Union for Democratic Rights, 1982) ruled that paying less than the minimum wage constitutes “forced labour” under Article 23 of the Constitution.</p>.<p>The reality is that governments are apathetic, discarding scientific norms for calculating minimum wages in favour of arbitrary determinations. Poverty-level wages masquerading as minimum wages can no longer be accepted. The legally mandated, scientific revision of minimum wages across the country is the rallying cry of the recent protests in UP, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttarakhand.</p>.<p>(The writer is Secretary, AITUC Karnataka)</p><p><em>Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.</em></p>
