New Year 2023 gift to Indians by the present regime was fabulous and fantastic. Cooking gas cylinder price was raised Rs 25 and the present price is Rs 1,055. Even the ‘godi media’ is beginning to report this devastating decision by the government. Those who are enjoying all the privileges of being the rulers in 2014 protested against the then government against the price of gas cylinder when it was only Rs 410. The cruelty of the present regime can be gauged from the fact that during COVID-19 in 2020, it hiked the price from Rs 714 to Rs 858.50. On the one hand, lower middle to poor classes were denied earning their daily wages due to strictly imposed social distancing and on the other hand the price of fuel was hiked steeply. 

Karim Ansari, a boy from Pakur, Jharkhand from below poverty line family migrated to Pulwarishariff as migrant labourer to work in construction. During the course of work, he fell and damaged his leg. With the influence of some people, he got first aid treatment and the doctor in AIIMS, Patna, told him to come back after 15 days with Rs. 70,000 for surgery. Due to lack of money, the family failed to get him treated. With the intervention of an NGO, the family managed to get this money with high interest rate and got the boy treated. If there was delay, his leg would have to be amputated. But the case of Karim is not an isolated one, millions of Indians from the Dalit, Tribal, minority and most backward castes are forced to live in poverty and penury. While Adanis and Ambanis are competing to be the world’s richest persons, over 70% of Indians are facing malnutrition, starvation and death. 

It is being reported from different parts of north India that a large number of distress labourers are migrating to other parts of India where they can eke out a living. Due to lack of money to travel, now they are not going to the traditional money lenders but to micro finance groups who lend money through the SHGs. These self-help groups were created within the JEEVIKA scheme of empowering rural masses. But instead of they being empowered, they are used as brokers to lend money and get back the money with high interest. Distressed labourers who do not have any alternative employment in their places are forced to borrow money from these micro finance groups and what they earn in some of the most difficult environments are sent to pay back the debt. Thus, debt and bondage in India have taken newer forms. 
 
This alarming scenario of the marginalised of India was starkly highlighted by the ILO in its report issued on 30th November, 2022, ‘Global Wage Report 2022-2023: The Impact of inflation and COVID-19 on wages and purchasing power’. The report examines the real and nominal wages. Based on this method, the ILO reported that the nominal monthly salary in India increased from Rs. 4,398 in 2006 to Rs. 17,017 in 2021. Based on the data provided by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation of the Indian Government, after accounting for inflation, India's real wage growth dropped from 9.3% in 2006 to -0.2% in 2021. The ILO also reported that India’s economic development has begun to decline at a faster rate than in the past. But it needs to be stated that the economic development of 30% population led by Adanis and Ambanis is fast growing.
 
The report further points to the fact that any rebound in economy is only in high-skilled jobs which is again restricted to only the top 30% of the population of upper caste and upper class. On the other hand, there is no comparable growth for low-to medium-skill workers. The totally unskilled labourers from the marginalized communities are doomed to perish. The ILO rang a warning bell to India that the informal workers suffered a 22.6% fall in wages, even as formal sector employees had their salaries cut by 3.6% on an average. Further, a country whose leaders boast of being Vishwa Guru, the real wage growth in India was one of the lowest in the Asia Pacific, lower than even Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Common Indians are frightened of the fact that if Sri Lanka which was better than India witnessed such an economic downfall leading to national unrest, what would be the fate of India which is ranked lower than Sri Lanka in terms of wages. 

The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) presents another alarming picture of the unemployment profile of the country. According to its report released in December 2022, the unemployment rates of urban, rural and India as a whole were 8.14, 5.83 and 6.56% respectively in January 2022. But this rate grew to 10.09, 7.44 and 8.30% in December 2022 for urban, rural and India as a whole. Thus, instead of decreasing, unemployment rate has increased in India.

According to its report released in December, 2022, the unemployment rate of urban and rural India was 8.14, 5.83 and 6.56%.  But this rate grew to 10.09, 7.44 and 8.30% in December, 2022. There are a variety of reasons for unemployment as per some studies. Some of them are: labor-intensive industries experiencing a downturn in private investment, especially following demonetization; insufficient government backing; weak market; financial, and infrastructure ties to small firms render those operations unprofitable due to the cost and compliance demands; low investments in the manufacturing sector; inadequate infrastructural development; limited secondary sector job opportunities; less incentives for self-employment and small scale industries; neglect of agriculture and agro-based industries; over stress on management than production and saving; lack of bank loans for the poor; lopsided paradigm of development; skewed wage determination; etc. 

Any democratically elected government need to address these issues, address the gaps and open up avenues for poor citizen and pro-poor development. Some of the steps that need immediate attention of the government to save the citizens are: fix up wages as per the price of commodities; provide not just minimum wages but appropriate wages or family wages; protect low income families from inflation; strengthen labour market institution and not just capital market institutions; address the gender gap in wage determination; put in place mechanism to reduce the widening economic inequality; instead of doing away with right to work, right to food, right to education, right to health, right to relief, right to bank credit, invest in these fundamental demands of over 70% of the population. The marginalized suffer due to multi-faceted, multi-dimensional exclusion, exploitation and discrimination. Hence, the need of the hour is to address these through short-term and long-term measures. 

But there is little hope that the present regime will address the burning issues of the common masses of the country. Instead, it is busy with divide and rule, hate and hit, Ghar Vapasi, lynching by labelling citizens, imposing restrictions on the foreign money that was brought to assist the most vulnerable segment of the country, demonitisation, anti-farmers bill, anti-labourers bill, anti-minority bill, etc., to name a few. What is more appalling is that in the union budget 2022-2023, an amount of Rs. 2,600 crore was allocated for the construction of non-residential office buldings of Central Vista. In a country where the vast majority is facing huge crisis of lack of employment, wages, income, basic facilities and forced to survive with the minimum, all these showpieces are given priority.
 
Concerned citizens of the country are worried about the short-term and long-term harmful effect of many policies and programs of the present regime. On the other hand, they are also apprehensive that what was witnessed in Sri Lanka could be our own fate. Keeping this in mind, as reported, the rich and the powerful are purchasing houses in different countries so that in the eventuality of any unrest, they can move to those places. Finally, it is the masses who would be left to fend for themselves. 

Dr. Ambedkar’s prophetic words provide us hope. “What we must do is to hold fast to constitutional methods of achieving our social and economic objectives…. We must make our political democracy a socio-economic democracy as well. Political democracy cannot last unless there lies at the base social democracy.”