Labour | SabrangIndia

Every Wave Has a Memory: Women, Waters and the Promise of November 5

sabrang — Tue, 04 Nov 2025 12:38:23 +0000

When the women of the sea rise, the tides will rise with them to recognise and honour the daughters of the oceans. On November 5 this year, fisherwomen across India and the world will celebrate the first International Fisher Women’s Day (IFWD) — a day not born in the corridors of institutions, but on the sands of Valiyathura, Kerala, amid the voices of working women who mend, dry, sell, and defend fish and life itself.

The idea of IFWD emerged from the India Fisher Women Assembly 2024, a historic gathering that declared November 5 as the day to honour the invisible hands that feed nations and protect the oceans. The call was later taken to the World Forum of Fisher Peoples (WFFP) General Assembly in Brazil, where it was unanimously adopted. It now stands as a global symbol of recognition — and rebellion.

As fisherwomen say, this day is not about being seen, but about reclaiming what was always theirs.

Anchored in a long tide of struggles

In the long history of people’s struggles, women have always been the conscience of resistance. From the factory floors of early Europe to the beaches of the Indian coast, women have stitched together the labour of survival and the ethics of care. Rosa Luxemburg’s words — “Those who do not move, do not notice their chains” — echo in the voices of fisherwomen today, who refuse to stay still while their waters are fenced, their lives erased, and their rights sold in the name of development.

International Women’s Day, born of the labour and socialist movements of Clara Zetkin and Luxemburg, demanded political equality and an end to exploitation. November 5 extends that lineage from the land to the sea. It reminds us that liberation cannot be confined to borders or industries — that the politics of the ocean, too, must carry the red thread of equality, community, and justice.

As Zetkin had said, “The working women’s question is not an isolated question, but part of the great social question.” The fisherwomen of Asia, Africa, and Latin America have kept that question alive — turning it into a sea of solidarity that stretches from Kanyakumari to Dakar.

Why November 5 matters — and why it began in India

Fisherwomen have always held the coastline together. They wake before dawn to carry fish to market, manage homes through storms and loss, and are the first to rebuild after every cyclone. Yet, their names do not appear in government records. They are still called ‘helpers’ or ‘dependents’, while laws, schemes, and cooperatives continue to be written in the masculine lens.

This erasure, the women declared in Kerala, must end. They demanded recognition not as “wives of fishers,” but as fishers themselves — rightful claimants of the seas, keepers of knowledge, and protectors of coasts.

In doing so, they carried forward the dreams of pioneers such as Thomas Kocherry and Harekrishna Debnath, who had long insisted that the future of fisheries lies not in mechanisation or export figures, but in justice, community control, and the dignity of work. Both leaders believed that the rights of fisherwomen were the moral compass of the movement. Kocherry often said, “When the poor stand up, even the sea must make way.”

The declaration of November 5 thus became a collective act of remembering — of drawing strength from those who built India’s post-colonial fishworker movement and from the women who sustained it quietly all along. This was endorsed by the largest social movement of fishers across the globe, the Word Forum of Fisher Peoples at the General Assembly held in Brazil in the same month of November 2025.

The women of waters and their demands

The call for an International Fisher Women’s Day is inseparable from its politics. Across India’s recently declared more than 11,000-kilometre coastline and its countless rivers and lakes, women are demanding what should never have been denied:

• Recognition as fishers in law and policy, not as dependents.
• Equal rights to access and govern coastal and inland waters, free from corporate intrusion.
• Inclusion in welfare, insurance, and disaster-compensation schemes.
• First-sale and market rights to secure fair prices and independence from exploitative middlemen.
• Representation in fisheries boards and cooperatives.
• Protection of ecosystems from destructive aquaculture, deep-sea mining, and coastal militarisation.
• Legal safeguards from caste and gender-based violence — both within the community and from the state.

These are not demands for special treatment; they are demands for survival, carved from decades of unpaid and unacknowledged work that sustains both the fishing economy and the national food basket.

The ocean remembers

In the last decade, government programmes such as the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) and new policies under the banner of Blue Economy 2.0 have promised prosperity. But for most coastal and inland fishing communities, these schemes have delivered displacement instead.

Behind the numbers and glossy reports lie harbours privatised, commons enclosed, and women’s livelihoods erased. As industrial trawlers deplete fish stocks and aquaculture pollutes backwaters, fisherwomen are left struggling for survival in a development model that excludes them.

The state’s vision of ‘modernisation’ has turned the sea into a commodity. But fisherwomen, who live by its moods and rhythms, remind us that the ocean is not a market to be managed — it is a living commons that sustains cultures, livelihoods, and spiritual traditions.

Ocean feminism and the new tide

From the lagoons of Chilika to the estuaries of Karaikal and the islands of the Sundarbans, women’s collectives are practising what they call ocean feminism — rooted in care, community, and resistance. They see themselves not as victims but as custodians of ‘aqua territories’ — spaces of relationship, knowledge, and survival.

As Harekrishna Debnath, one of India’s earliest fisher leaders, often said, “We don’t fight the sea; we live with it. But we must fight those who sell it.” Today, that fight is global. It connects fisherwomen in India to their sisters in Senegal, Thailand, and Brazil — all confronting the false climate solutions packaged as Blue Transformation, 30×30, and Marine Spatial Planning, which in practice privatise the oceans and displace small-scale fishers.

Through the five-week campaign initiated by WFFP — from November 5 to December 10 — women and men of the fishing world are asserting their right to live with dignity, protect their territories, and resist enclosure in every form.

From recognition to transformation

This International Fisher Women’s Day is not a commemoration; it is a beginning. It reminds us that the ocean too has a memory — of those who built communities along its edge, who fed others before themselves, and who continue to hold the fragile balance between humanity and water.

As Rosa Luxemburg warned, “Freedom is always the freedom of those who think differently.” Across India’s coasts and rivers, fisherwomen are thinking — and acting — differently: against caste, patriarchy, and neoliberal enclosures; for rights, justice, and community life.

Their struggle is our collective future. When the tide rises, may it rise with their names on its waves.

Jesu Rethinam is the Global Women Coordinator of the World Forum of Fisher Peoples (WFFP).

Vijayan MJ is Director, Participatory Action Research Coalition, India (PARCI).

Courtesy: CounterCurrents

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‘Shankar Guha Niyogi: A Politics in red and green is testament to the path breaking experiments of a labour movement with a strong ecological component

sabrang — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 07:43:36 +0000

Shankar Guha Niyogi: A Politics in Red and Green, by Radhika Krishnan, is an extensive exploration of the pathbreaking ideas and experiences of a movement born in Chhattisgarh in 1977 making a case for a radically different co-relationship of labour with of ecology and technology. Founded by Shankar Guha Niyogi as a union for the miners of the Bhilai Steel Plant, the Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha (CMM), representing mineworkers, factory workers, and agricultural workers across Chhattisgarh, epitomised a visionary politics dealing or paying respect not only with multiple livelihoods, but also the interrelationships crystallised between them. The author examines how this trade union intervened with wide-ranging ecological changes in the region, reinventing concepts and breaking way from the traditional conventions of a ‘trade union’.

This book unpacks Niyogi’s ideas and seeks to explore new discoveries and heights of labour’s interaction with ecology and technology. The study is a testament to tensions and contradictions being an integral part of any endeavour challenging economic, social and political backwardness.

The author explores four major aspects.

Through resurrecting Niyogi and the CMM, the author navigates and examines how the ideological frameworks, structures and processes forge a crucial bond between labour and environment.
Whether a worker has the capacity to be part of the process of democratising technology, or bridging the boundaries between the ‘user’ environment and the ‘developer’ environment of technology.
Whether examining aspects of nationality and sub-nationality, ethnicity and identity hinder aspect of identity deeply rooted in labour
Finally, whether debates around technology, environment, and nationality were a contravention of class-based trade union practice.

In addressing these questions, this book will be recommended reading for students and scholars of environment studies and labour studies.

The book explores the path breaking achievements undertaken by Niyogi. The author taps Niyogi’s visions of labour foreseeing the factory as an ecological component within the broader framework of the farm and the forest. He gives a most vivid description of the developmental debates which post-colonial India opened up which welcomed anti- people technological formats. It is a most compelling and illustrative narrative of the journey of the CMM led by Niyogi, in orchestrating the unified resistance of Adivasis, famers, peasants and workers and thus forging links between factory and forest. Most intensively it explores and dissects how the CMM planted the seeds, for a genuinely pro-people alternative of a developmental model. The book also untaps how it used semi-mechanisation to combat technology displacing labour and contractual workers forged a link with Adivasis in forests, in background of industrial pollution plaguing living conditions.

In chapter ‘A 24*7Union’ in immaculate detail it traces the historic transition of the Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha in the backdrop of a spectrum of political events or parallel organisations and movements alongside.

The chapter on ‘Labour and Technological Changes in Chhattisgarh ‘makes a clinical and lucid diagnosis of the applicability of traditional Gandhian methods or conventional Marxist approach, and explores the creative role of Niyogi and his path breaking innovations in technology and labour methods. The book explores how Niyogi synthesised Gandhi’s ideas with that of Marx, not blindly or mechanically following either. It threw light on CMM made a major departure from economism, not merely confining itself to boundaries encompassing wages and working conditions. Ecological concerns were made an integral complement to other basic demands. Aspect of technology became a major part of the discourse. The chapter elaborated how Niyogi differed with Gandhi in utilising strike as a weapon and visualised labour as a creative, collective force in contrast to Gandhi’s vison of labour as a moral, individual duty. Unlike Gandhi Niyogi foresaw labour as capable of, innovating, interacting, creating and transforming existing structures. However Niyogi did endorse Gandhi’s critique of mechanisation and support to village technologies, in opposition to mass production of the machine. Still hands down he opposed Gandhi’s semi-feudal structures of rural economy. The chapter also invoked a detailed exploration of the economic model of Kumarappa.

Niyogi invented a Marxist method that addressed ecological contradictions and tensions and spurred workers, trade unionists and activists to re-evaluate their concept of what constitutes the working class. A critique was made of technology imported from former Soviet Union. CMM asserted that to be categorised as ‘socialist’, it had to promote labour participation in the manufacturing process, and not cause retrenchment of labour.

In Chapter on ‘Green and red Imagination’ makes a most extensive and illustrative exploration of how the CMM virtually created a new world for the workers and tribals, highlighting the abolishing of contract labour, winning rights for a fair wage, housing, free health and literacy. It elaborated how a path-breaking model had been constructed by Niyogi, with health facilities for workers transcending horizons unexplored.

In chapter ‘Chhattisgarh for Whom’ the author makes a thorough study of the nationality question and movement in Chhattisgarh. Linking it with the broader framework of political liberation and economic revolution. The experiences are located not only in their historical context, but also in the broader arena of debates on environment, science and technology, and movements for statehood and identity.

A concluding chapter ‘The Road not taken’ reflects how after Niyogi’s death after being murdered on September 28, 1991, the CMM movement strived to walk on the trail or pursue the legacy of Niyogi by keeping his ideas intact.

The work analyses practicality of Niyogi’s ideas in respect to current political and economic scenario. It navigates how globalisation and liberalisation era policies shaped the course of the CMM, recounting protests of CMM against Dunkel in 1994and 1998, jointly with farmers organisations of Punjab and Karnataka. Now the dialogue between forest and factory had sharpened with growth in process of industrialisation.

The CMM reformulated its environmental campaigns, designing posters, songs and entire campaign showcasing this theme. The CMM took an ant-war stance on Kargil after Pokhran blasts in 1998 and also formulated a powerful ant-communal agenda.

This chapter also mentions how selective memories have been obliterated of Niyogi, on environmental movements, ecological concerns and alternative technological and developmental agendas.

(The author is a freelance journalist).

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CJP submits detailed feedback to Labour Ministry on Draft Shram Shakti Niti 2025

sabrang — Thu, 30 Oct 2025 05:35:41 +0000

In a detailed examination of the Union Ministry of Labour’s recent circulation of the Draft National Labour and Employment Policy (Draft Shram Shakti Niti, 2025), the CJP has pointed out that the schema and intent of the document does not deal specifically with any/which kinds of workers i.e., gig worker, agricultural worker, factory workers, MNREGA workers, or migrant workers. The need for such specification and detail is vital so that the policy is to ensure that workers get skills for upward social mobility to occur, especially in the age of AI. Besides, submits CJP, “The policy needs to move beyond the mere aim of administrative ease with respect to labour governance and truly envisage a labour policy that will guide India into an era of better wages, resulting in better standards of living, and better standards of working conditions. The fact that the policy does not mention trade unions and instead sees to formalise the existing workforce using technology is not prudent since it individualises worker concerns and thereby reduce bargaining power of workers and that is antithetical to constitutional values.”

About a month ago the Draft Policy had been circulated and the Ministry had invited feedback on the draft Shram Shakti Niti 2025. While the initiative to update India’s labour and employment policy in light of changing technological, demographic, and economic realities is welcome states CJP, a careful examination of the draft, has led the human rights organisation to submit detailed comments and actionable recommendations aimed at ensuring that the policy truly advances constitutional values of equality, dignity, and social justice.

Giving a rationale for this need to actually dis-aggregate the policy and detail its application to different kinds of workers, CJP has in the detailed tabular Comments and Recommendations underlined that “Work demand under MNREGA work is increasing, the gig workers are facing precarious work conditions and there is huge amount of supply of gig workers. Agricultural labour face one of the most intense employment insecurities and yet, the availability of agricultural labour is scarce in rural regions. The problems they face are different. Therefore, different action plans and policy outlook need to be envisaged for different kinds of workers. Administrative ease of linking people with jobs and jog givers, and management of data across ministries and departments is a centralised advantage for the government.” This and “the absence of an articulated framework for tripartite negotiation among workers, employers, and the State risks concentrating decision-making power within government and weakening workers’ ability to secure equitable outcomes. At a structural level, the continued whittling down of state powers in the concurrent domain, undermines the federal balance essential for meaningful labour reform.”

Addressing these lacunae in the focus of the entire policy, CJP has stated that, a revised approach should:

Address these issues in the further drafts by incorporating specific visions for different kinds of workers mentioned above.
Introduce tripartite negotiation frameworks at national and state levels where the State is not the arbiter of worker interests but a facilitator of dialogue.
Strengthen the section on cooperative federalism, a basic feature of the Constitution, by emphasising a federal policy structure, ensuring meaningful participation of State governments in labour governance.
Explicitly recognise trade unions and collective bargaining as constitutional mechanisms for worker participation and policy co-creation under Articles 19. 41 and 43 of the Constitution.

The rest of the Tabular Comments on the Draft Shram Shakti Niti may be read here:

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Beyond insurance: addressing the needs of India’s agricultural labour force

The post CJP submits detailed feedback to Labour Ministry on Draft Shram Shakti Niti 2025 appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Labour rights, health of workers hit in the name of “reform”: PUCL Maharashtra

sabrang — Wed, 10 Sep 2025 13:45:14 +0000

Expressing deep concern at the Maharashtra cabinet’s recent decision to “reform” labour laws, the Maharashtra unit of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has, in a statement called the proposed changes highly regressive and a clear attack on labour rights. If legislated and implemented, this decision will be disastrous for working people in the state – shrinking the organised workforce and rolling back labour protections to the exploitative norms of the colonial era.

On September 3, 2025 the Maharashtra Cabinet approved a series of labour law amendments to increase the length of the working day, working hours without rest intervals, working hours per week, and limit of the overtime period. These amendments are based on recommendations of a central task force on labour reforms in order to “attract investment, expand industries, and create more employment opportunities.” The Maharashtra decision aligns with states such as Karnataka, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, and Tripura – which have already enacted similar “reforms.”

The PUCL statement states that it must not be forgotten that the State is the biggest employer both in industries and establishments and is therefore required to ensure that workers are not exploited and their fundamental rights to a decent, safe and healthy work environment are protected. Yet it fails to do precisely that.

The State Government has made many lofty claims in support of these “reforms,” that are presumably in the interests of both labour as well as capital. The amendments will facilitate “protection of labour rights” while “improving the ease of doing business.” They will help “attract investment” as well as “increase employment opportunities in the state.”¹ But it is obvious that extending working hours, and removing smaller establishments from the purview of the law is meant to reduce or remove protections for workers, not to expand them, says the PUCL.

Today, even in the industrial sector in India, contractual workers are already working 12-hour shifts (without overtime). In effect, the amendments aim to legalise what is already happening in fact – depriving workers of the legal safeguards against super-exploitation. They seem to be a way of coercing a shrinking permanent workforce into this inhuman work regime. Besides, far from increasing employment, as is claimed, this step will reduce the organised work force to two thirds of its size by replacing 8-hour shifts with 12-hour ones. It is no surprise that the Karnataka State IT/ITeS

1 See the post by the Chief Minster of Maharashtra on the social media platform X:

मंत्रिमंडळ निर्णय : कामगार विभाग@Dev_Fadnavis #Maharashtra #मंत्रिमंडळनिर्णय #CabinetDecision #DevendraFadnavis pic.twitter.com/oTZrwmsHOp

— CMO Maharashtra (@CMOMaharashtra) September 3, 2025

Employees Union (KITU) labelled similar amendments proposed in Karnataka as “inhuman attempt to impose modern-day slavery” upon them.²

In line with the state cabinet’s decision, the proposed amendments will be carried out in the Factories Act of 1948 and the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2017. In the Factories Act, the amendments proposed are: (a) Under Section 65, the workday shall be extended from the present 9 hours up to 12 hours; (b) Under Section 55, the rest period which was half an hour after the first five hours shall be made half an hour after six hours; (c) Under Section 56, the maximum number of working hours (spread over) in a day from 10.5 hours to 12 hours; (d) Under Section 65, the maximum number of hours of overtime in a quarter shall be increased from the present 115 to 144 hours (the original limit had been laid down as 75 hours). Under the Shops and Establishments Act the government intends to (a) increase working hours from 9 to 10 hours; (b) exclude establishments having less than 20 workers (the current number of 85 lakh establishments covered by this Act will be reduced to about 56,000).

While the State Labour Secretary has claimed that overtime work will be paid at double the rate of basic wages and allowances for every such increase in working hours, and that such overtime shall be subject to worker’s consent, these assurances have to be tested upon the actual language of the proposed amendments, particularly the fine print. While the decisions have yet to take the shape of a bill/ordinance for amending the Factories Act in the state, it is very likely that the amending bill/ordinance shall be on the lines of similar amendments made in Rajasthan and Gujarat.

In the Gujarat Ordinance No. 2 of 2025, issued on July 1, 2025, for instance, at Section 6, it is stated that Section 59(1) of the Factories Act shall be substituted by:

“Where a worker works in any factory:-

for more than nine hours in any day or for more than forty-eight hours in any week, working for six days in any week;
for more than ten hours in any day or for more than forty eight hours in any week, working for five days in any week;
for more than eleven and a half hours in any day working for four days in any week, or works on paid holidays; he shall in respect of overtime work be entitled to wages at the rate of twice his ordinary rate of wages.”

In effect this means that overtime will not be calculated on a daily basis, but on a weekly basis, and a worker may work for eleven and a half hours each day for four days in a week without being eligible for overtime. This amounts to squeezing out the maximum from workers, and if they do not consent to overtime, subjecting them to artificial breaks in service jeopardising their permanent status.

The Rajasthan Bill contains another dangerous clause, namely 6(v):

“A worker may be required to work for overtime subject to the consent of such worker for such work except worker required to work for safety activities.”

2 See the statement “12-hour work day in Karnataka’s IT Sector; Modern-Day Slavery in the Making: KITU Urges Employees to Unite and Resist” by the Karnataka State IT/ITeS Employees Union
https://kituhq.org/recent/6836e0f7e83575020247d3d1

Thus, a maintenance worker may be forced to work overtime all the year round. Given the current situation in the country of a large informal sector, underemployment, low wages, and unpaid work – workers will give “consent” out of fear or desperation, not choice. The provision of “consent” will be little more than legal subterfuge to conceal a new form of servitude.

It is a serious concern that while average working hours in wealthy countries have reduced by roughly half over the last 150 years – moving from over 50 hours per week to around 25-35 hours per week in recent times – India is reverting to colonial era standards by increasing working hours. In France, for instance, the standard full-time work week is 35 hours, with a daily cap of 10 hours; hours beyond the 35 hour threshold are considered overtime.

Finally, the PUCL statement states that the working class all over the world has fought a long battle to establish its right to an 8- hour working day so that workers may also have 8 hours of rest and 8 hours of personal time in which to achieve their full potential as citizens and as human beings. It must be recalled that the International Workers Day originates from the demand for an eight hour working day. Labour Day commemorates the sacrifice of union organisers – who were framed after the Haymarket protest on false charges of causing a riot – during a strike and demonstrations of Chicago workers in 1886. It has origins in the American Federation of Labour’s call: “eight hours shall constitute a legal day’s labour from and after May 1st, 1886”. After the International Labour Organisation (ILO) was founded in 1919, the first instrument ratified by it was the one regulating working hours. The second article limited working hours to 8 hours per day and 48 hours per week. India was one of the first signatories of the ILO’s “Hours of Work Convention” in 1921. India has itself witnessed valiant struggles of textile workers in the year 1911 to reduce working hours which finally under the pen of Dr B.R. Ambedkar were enshrined in the Factories Act, 1948 in the form of the 8-hour work day. The government’s decision in effect seeks to extinguish in one stroke the rights that working people have won with great sacrifice and struggle over more than a century.

It is widely acknowledged that long hours of work does not increase worker productivity, on the contrary, they drastically increase incidents of workplace accidents. Such long hours of work can only lead to sweat labour and hazardous work conditions. It will adversely impact health of workers by increasing exhaustion and stress, and increase their exposure to occupation-linked diseases and medical conditions. It is equally well known that workers in establishments with 12- hour shifts are rarely able to unionise. Longer working hours are discriminatory towards women workers because women bear a significant burden of care work in their homes. If the government was serious about increasing productivity, employment opportunities and welfare of workers, they would introduce progressive amendments to reduce working hours without any reduction in wages.

The PUCL Maharashtra has therefore demanded that the full texts of the proposed amendments be made available in the public domain in both in Marathi and English, and in all offices of the Labour Department so that trade unions and organisations can scrutinise the fine print of these so- called “reforms.” We demand that this decision to amend the Factories Act and the Shop and Establishments Act along the lines of other state governments be immediately revoked. Any proposed labour reforms in the state must only be considered after a series of consultations with trade unions and workers’ organisations, after which they ought to be opened to the broader public for suggestions and objections.

The PUCL, has also stated that the organization, in alliance with trade unions and informal sector workers organisations will campaign against the extension of work hours. It will also lobby with the Standing Committee in the Legislative Assembly and with opposition party MLAs to not accept these changes, and if required challenge these amendments in the courts. The statement was issued by Shiraz Bulsara Prabhu, President of PUCL, Maharashtra and Sandhya Gokhale, General Secretary.

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The Mubarakpur Saree in the Digital Age: Can e-commerce bypass traditional barriers?

sabrang — Fri, 05 Sep 2025 13:17:00 +0000

In Indian culture, the saree is more than clothing. It is history worn on the body, a textile archive of heritage, artistry and identity. Among India’s many weaving clusters, Mubarakpur in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, holds a distinguished place. For centuries, its artisans have woven fine silk brocades—often grouped under the wider Banarasi label—producing heirlooms for weddings, festivals and rituals. Their work is both a work of cultural pride and living tradition.

Mubarakpur’s weaving tradition dates back to the 14th century, appearing in Ibn Battuta’s travel diaries, where he marvelled at the fabrics of the region. During Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq’s reign, records mention some 4,000 weavers in the town. Known for weaving pure silk sarees with zari work, the artisans developed looms that still rival mechanised versions in quality and finish.

For decades, however, weavers have suffered from under-representation, exploited by middlemen who blurred the distinction between Banarasi and Mubarakpuri products. Many were forced to accept inferior raw materials and unfair loans, producing fabrics that demanded long hours yet yielded little return. Religious riots drove away workers, while erratic state policies—such as scrapping fixed electricity tariffs and replacing them with metered bills—pushed fragile households out of the loom sheds. The “One District One Product” scheme failed to meaningfully uplift Mubarakpuri sarees, while GI tagging and transport connectivity with Varanasi and Gorakhpur—essential trade hubs—remain inadequate. Even a completed shop market complex in Alinagar, built under the Samajwadi Party, stands locked and unused.

Despite intermittent political support, weavers have largely been left to innovate and survive. Some modified looms with motors to mimic power looms. Others migrated to cities like Hyderabad. For those who stayed, dignity came slowly through organisations such as the All India Artisans and Craftworkers Welfare Association (AIACA). Beginning in 2014, “Mubarakpur Weaves” revived skills, trained artisans in business and design, and secured Craftmark certification for authenticity. Wages rose, ownership and profit-sharing returned dignity, and the brand gained visibility. The effort proved that even a marginalised cluster could reimagine itself with collective organisation, certification, and a distinct identity.

Yet these hard-won gains now face an external shock. In August 2025, the United States sharply raised tariffs on Indian goods. A prior 25% reciprocal tariff was joined by a new 25% punitive tariff, bringing total duties to 50% on a wide swath of exports, including garments, textiles, carpets, and jewellery. The stated reason—India’s continued purchase of Russian oil—was geopolitical. The effect on artisans was immediate. Sarees, carpets and handicrafts destined for diaspora customers in the US suddenly, became uncompetitive. Exporters reported cancelled or delayed orders.

Rajan Bahl, vice president of the Banarasi Textile Industry Association, stated: “Exports of Banarasi sarees will decline by 15 to 20 per cent due to these tariffs. Handloom products will be the most affected. Though the current losses may appear small, the future impact will be severe. Every year, exports worth Rs 200 to Rs 300 crore were sent to the US, which is now under threat. Orders are being cancelled, and no new orders are coming in. This is not a minor loss; it is a major blow to Banaras and its industry.” Traders in Varanasi staged protests, burning posters of US President Donald Trump and warning of widespread disruption. For the Banarasi and Mubarakpuri clusters, the US market is vital: not the largest in volume, but among the most lucrative, especially for high-end consignments. A 50% tariff makes Indian products far more expensive than those from Bangladesh, Vietnam or Turkey, who now stand to capture price-sensitive segments.

The ripple effects are harsh. In the dispersed handloom economy, even a short spell of cancellations means idle looms, depleted working capital and migration away from craft. International and Indian outlets estimate that thousands of jobs across labour-intensive textile sectors are at risk. For communities already surviving on thin margins, the blow is existential.

To its credit, New Delhi responded with stop-gap relief. The government extended an 11% import duty exemption on raw cotton until the end of 2025, aiming to lower input costs across the textile sector. While Mubarakpuri sarees are primarily silk, blended ranges, linings, and broader supply chains do benefit indirectly. Branding initiatives such as the “Silk Banarasi” trademark, complete with QR-linked authenticity and Silk Mark certification, are also being scaled. Uttar Pradesh to establish showrooms in Varanasi, Lucknow, Ayodhya and Delhi, where digital codes link customers to weaving videos and details of artisans.

Still, tariffs test more than cost structures. They expose a strategic weakness: over-reliance on a single overseas market. For Mubarakpur and other clusters, the way forward lies in diversification. Industry bodies urge exporters to pursue Japan, the UK, Australia, the UAE and Europe, while strengthening domestic retail linked to tourism. Digital direct-to-consumer platforms offer another path, enabling weavers to bypass middlemen and reach diaspora buyers in lower-tariff markets.

Raw material resilience is another critical factor. Assam’s silks—muga, eri, pat—have long inspired designers, adding richness and exclusivity to sarees. Yet Assam’s sericulture has recently suffered from cocoon shortages, administrative instability and logistical disruptions. In 2024–25, yields fell, imports rose, and prices spiked, reducing availability for experimental blends in Mubarakpur and beyond. Without reliable supplies of specialty silks, innovation suffers, and artisans are pushed towards inferior fibres that diminish quality and reputation.

The danger is not only economic but cultural. If tariffs drive buyers towards cheaper mechanised alternatives, the painstaking artistry of handloom risks erosion. Once artisans leave the loom, their skills rarely return. The emotional economy—pride, identity, heritage—is as fragile as the financial one. As one weaver noted, a saree may sell for ₹5,000, but the artisan’s share amounts to only ₹500–600 a day, while intermediaries capture the rest. When shocks like tariffs or raw-material shortages arrive, the imbalance becomes unsustainable.

And yet, resilience persists. Mubarakpur’s weavers continue to innovate. Their sarees remain sought after for bridal wear, ceremonial occasions, and heritage collections. Urban elites and diaspora buyers still pay for authenticity when they can recognise it. The challenge is ensuring that recognition translates into sustained demand in markets beyond the US.

The story of the Mubarakpuri saree today is one of survival amid compounded pressures: historical neglect, domestic policy missteps, raw material shortages, and now punitive tariffs. But it is also a story of possibility—of artisans reclaiming identity through certification, of NGOs building weaver-led enterprises, of governments experimenting with branding and provenance. Whether these interventions can withstand the storm of tariff-driven market loss remains to be seen.

The lesson is clear. Cultural resilience requires economic strategy. The saree may be timeless, but its survival depends on choices made in boardrooms, ministries, and export councils. If India diversifies markets, strengthens branding, secures raw materials, and provides genuine support to its artisans, the Mubarakpuri saree can navigate the tariff era and emerge stronger. If not, one of India’s most ancient weaving clusters risks becoming another casualty of global trade politics.

In the end, tariffs are more than percentages; they are reminders of fragility in heritage economies. For Mubarakpur, the challenge is not only to endure the present shock but to convert it into an opportunity—preserving a craft that is both identity and livelihood, and ensuring it thrives for generations to come.

(The author is a writer in English and Urdu, with a focus on literature, politics, and religion.)

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Beyond the Clock: Deconstructing Telangana’s Labour Law Reform and the Flawed Pursuit of Investment

sabrang — Thu, 28 Aug 2025 11:57:32 +0000

On July 5, 2025, the Government of Telangana enacted a significant amendment to its labour regulations, effectively permitting commercial establishments to schedule workdays of up to 10 hours at regular pay, with overtime compensation now triggered only after a 48-hour week is surpassed. Justified as a necessary measure to enhance the “Ease of Doing Business” (EoDB) and attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), the move has ignited a fierce debate, pitting a vision of corporate flexibility against the century-old fight for worker rights. While the government presents this as a pragmatic step to align with a globalized economy, a deeper analysis reveals that the policy is built on a precarious foundation: a discredited development model that misidentifies the true drivers of investment and ignores the overwhelming evidence linking overwork to diminished productivity and public health crises. This article will argue that by prioritizing a deregulatory “race to the bottom,” Telangana is not only undermining the well-being of its most valuable asset—its human capital—but is also pursuing a flawed strategy that is unlikely to secure the high-quality, sustainable investment it seeks.

Telangana’s Economic Engine and the New Rules of Work

At the heart of this policy change lies Hyderabad, the engine of Telangana’s economy. The city’s burgeoning Information Technology (IT), IT-enabled Services (ITeS), and broad commercial sectors are the state’s economic powerhouse, contributing over 65% of its Gross State Value Added (GSVA). With an IT workforce exceeding 900,000 professionals and generating exports second only to Bengaluru, Hyderabad is a globally significant economic hub. It is home to the largest international campuses of tech giants like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google, making the state’s regulatory climate a critical factor in their operational calculus.

It is precisely this workforce that is targeted by the new law, G.O. Rt. No. 282. The order exempts “commercial establishments” from the standard 8-hour workday rule for overtime calculation. Previously, any hour worked beyond eight in a day was compensated at twice the normal rate. The new framework eliminates this daily threshold. Now, an employee can be asked to work 10 hours a day for five days a week at their regular wage, as overtime is only calculated after the 48-hour weekly limit is breached. This represents a fundamental reclassification of what was once premium-paid overtime into standard work, constituting a direct and significant transfer of value from employees to employers. The government’s framing of this as “flexibility” is misleading; it is not flexibility for the worker, but for the corporation, which can now schedule longer days at a lower cost, effectively normalizing a 10-hour workday and facilitating a “crunch culture” where long hours can be demanded to meet project deadlines without the financial disincentive of overtime pay.

The following infographic effectively shows what the change in the law does.

The Myth of Deregulation: Deconstructing “Ease of Doing Business” and FDI

The core justification for this policy—improving Ease of Doing Business to attract FDI—is rooted in a development narrative that has been empirically challenged and officially discredited. This narrative was largely shaped by the World Bank’s annual Doing Business report, a tool that for years pressured developing nations to weaken labour laws. However, in September 2021, the World Bank permanently discontinued the report after investigations revealed data irregularities and ethical breaches, fatally undermining its credibility. Any policy based on climbing the rankings of this defunct report is, therefore, built on a phantom metric.

Even before its cancellation, the report’s “Employing Workers” sub-index was heavily criticised for its inherent anti-worker bias. Its methodology explicitly penalized countries for having robust worker protections, such as setting maximum weekly work hours, establishing a meaningful minimum wage, or requiring notice for dismissal. The index failed to distinguish between the absence of regulation and the presence of efficient, well-designed regulations that foster stability and equity. It promoted a simplistic and ultimately harmful view that labour rights are an impediment to economic growth.

The notion that diluting labour laws is a primary lever for attracting FDI is not supported by the balance of economic evidence. A broad consensus in academic and institutional research points to a different set of factors as the true determinants of investment decisions, especially for the high-value, knowledge-based FDI that a city like Hyderabad aims to attract.

Investors are primarily drawn to large and growing consumer markets where they can sell their goods and services. Availability of Credit has been an important factor impacting ease of doing business, according to recent research. Ease of getting permits has been identified as an important factor in enabling ease of doing business. Reliable transport, consistent energy supply, and high-speed digital communications are non-negotiable prerequisites for modern business operations. Investors require a predictable environment with low political risk and stable economic policies to protect their long-term assets. A transparent, efficient, and predictable legal system for enforcing contracts and protecting property rights is paramount for investor confidence.

When viewed against these factors, labour law flexibility is, at best, a secondary and often statistically insignificant consideration. For labour-intensive, low-skill manufacturing, low wages can be a draw. But for the service and technology sectors that define Hyderabad’s economy, competing on the basis of longer work hours is a strategic mismatch. It is a “race to the bottom” that devalues the city’s core competitive advantage: its vast pool of highly skilled human capital. Weakening worker protections risks alienating this talent, fostering a culture of burnout, and paradoxically making the state less attractive to the very high-value companies it wishes to court.

The Productivity Paradox: Why More Hours Mean Less Output

The most fundamental flaw in the logic of extending work hours is the assumption that more time spent at work equates to more output. A vast body of scientific research from economics, public health, and management studies refutes this, revealing a non-linear and often inverse relationship between long hours and productivity.

Foundational research from Stanford University demonstrated that productivity per hour declines sharply after an employee works more than 50 hours a week. Beyond 55 hours, the drop is so precipitous that the additional time yields almost no discernible benefit. This “productivity cliff” means that a 70-hour workweek accomplishes virtually nothing more than a 55-hour one. The International Labour Organization (ILO) corroborates this, noting that while gross output may rise in the short term, output per hour steadily decreases with excessive working time due to fatigue, which leads to a higher rate of errors, poorer quality work, and an increased risk of accidents.

This is not merely a theoretical concept. Real-world experiments have consistently validated it. When Microsoft Japan trialed a four-day workweek, it saw a 40% surge in productivity. An extensive trial in Iceland involving shorter workweeks resulted in improved employee well-being alongside equal or even higher levels of output. Historically, Henry Ford’s pioneering decision to reduce the workday to eight hours famously led to a spike in productivity, as rested, motivated workers proved far more efficient.

Beyond the economic inefficiency, policies that encourage overwork are a significant public health concern. A landmark study by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the ILO established that working 55 or more hours per week is a serious health hazard, leading to a 35% higher risk of stroke and a 17% higher risk of dying from heart disease. The report attributed over 745,000 deaths in a single year to the effects of long working hours, framing it as a major occupational risk factor. The health consequences—including hypertension, diabetes, chronic fatigue, anxiety, and depression—translate directly into tangible business costs through higher rates of absenteeism, employee burnout, and increased turnover of skilled professionals.

A Normative Framework for Progress: Working Smarter, Not Longer

The Telangana government’s decision represents a choice between two competing visions of development. The first, embodied by the new amendment, views labour as a cost to be minimized. The second, grounded in evidence, views human capital as the primary engine of sustainable growth. The latter path is not only more equitable but also more effective for achieving long-term prosperity.

The alternative to a low-road strategy of extending hours is a high-road strategy of enhancing the value and productivity of each hour worked. This “Productivity-Welfare Flywheel” creates a virtuous cycle of growth. It begins with investments in technology, automation, and modern management practices that allow employees to work smarter, not longer. This includes streamlining processes, automating routine tasks, and fostering a results-oriented culture that measures value created, not hours logged.

When productivity per hour increases, it allows for better wages and improved work-life balance. This, in turn, enhances worker well-being. Well-rested, motivated, and healthy employees are more creative, make fewer errors, and are more loyal to their employers. This high-productivity, high-welfare environment becomes a powerful magnet for the highest-value FDI and the most sought-after global talent, spinning the flywheel faster and moving the economy up the value chain.

The role of government in this model is not to engage in a deregulatory race to the bottom but to act as a steward of a high-productivity ecosystem. This means investing in infrastructure, education, and R&D, and maintaining fair and stable regulatory frameworks. Corporate responsibility, in turn, extends beyond mere compliance to actively investing in the tools, training, and culture that enhance both productivity and well-being.

In conclusion, Telangana’s decision to extend working hours is a regressive step based on a flawed and outdated economic ideology. It misinterprets the true drivers of foreign investment, ignores the scientific consensus on productivity, and jeopardizes the health and well-being of its workforce. By treating the 8-hour day not as a fundamental right but as a bureaucratic hurdle, the policy threatens to erode the very human capital that has made Hyderabad a global success story. A truly competitive and prosperous future for states lie not in working longer, but in working smarter. It lies in rejecting the false trade-off between worker rights and economic growth and embracing a synergistic model where investing in people is understood as the surest path to lasting productivity and shared prosperity.

(The author is part of the legal research team of the organisation)

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Beyond the Clock: Deconstructing Telangana’s Labour Law Reform and the Flawed Pursuit of Investment

sabrang — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 10:54:27 +0000

Telangana’s Economic Engine and the New Rules of Work

The following infographic effectively shows what the change in the law does.

The Myth of Deregulation: Deconstructing “Ease of Doing Business” and FDI

The Productivity Paradox: Why More Hours Mean Less Output

A Normative Framework for Progress: Working Smarter, Not Longer

(The author is part of the legal research team of the organisation)

New Trade Union Initiative (NTUI) demands that governments retract changes in labour laws

Battle against dilution of labour laws to culminate in Supreme Court?

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Bengali Migrant Workers Detained in Odisha: Calcutta High Court demands answers, seeks coordination between states

sabrang — Fri, 11 Jul 2025 11:05:01 +0000

In a case that has spotlighted, once again, the rising concerns over the treatment of Bengali-speaking migrant workers, the Calcutta High Court on July 10 posed a series of urgent questions to the Government of Odisha regarding the alleged illegal detention of a young labourer from West Bengal.

A Division Bench comprising Justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Reetobroto Kumar Mitra was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Rajjak Sk., the father of Sainur Islam, a migrant worker employed in Jagatsinghpur, Odisha. According to the plea, Sainur was picked up by Odisha police during a “special identification drive” and has not been seen or heard from since. The petitioner claims no formal arrest intimation or case details have been shared with the family, raising grave concerns about arbitrary detention and denial of constitutional rights.

“Where are the migrant workers now? On what basis were they detained? Has any action been taken against them?” the court asked while hearing the case, as reported by LiveLaw.

Appearing for the petitioner, Advocate Raghunath Chakraborty submitted that the young man, like many others from Bengal, had travelled to Odisha in search of work and had been rounded up solely because he spoke Bengali. It was alleged that he was held beyond 24 hours without being produced before a magistrate—an act in direct violation of Article 22 of the Constitution and settled law under DK Basu v. State of West Bengal.

The Court was also informed that such detentions are part of a disturbing pattern. Senior Advocate Kalyan Banerjee, who appeared in support of the petitioner, cited recent instances of Bengali-speaking labourers facing similar treatment in other states, including Assam, where language and appearance are being used as grounds to presume foreign nationality.

Taking note of these submissions, the Bench observed that the allegations raised serious questions of fundamental rights violations and could not be brushed aside simply because the alleged illegal detention took place outside West Bengal. “This Court cannot remain a silent spectator,” the judges said, affirming the maintainability of the petition under Article 226 of the Constitution, which empowers High Courts to issue writs, including habeas corpus, even in cases where detention occurs outside their territorial jurisdiction.

“This Court has the power to issue writs including habeas corpus under Article 226 of the Constitution of India which allows it to address violations of fundamental rights, even if the detention occurred in another State.”

“In view of the nature of allegations made, prima facie, we are of the opinion that the writ petition is maintainable and this Court cannot be a silent spectator. The authorities need to be directed to produce all relevant documents to enable this Court to infer as to whether Sainur had been illegally detained.”

Before passing any formal directions to the Odisha authorities, the Court framed six pointed questions that must be answered:

“Whether Sainur had been detained or is missing?”
“If detained, whether such detention is in connection with any Court’s order?”

“If detained, what are the grounds towards such detention?”

“Whether Sainur had been detained upon informing him of the specific grounds for his arrest?”
“Whether Sainur’s arrest is related to any investigation being conducted by the Odisha police authorities or the officials of the State?”
“Whether there has been any correspondence between the authorities of the State of West Bengal and the authorities of the State of Odisha?”

To facilitate an inter-state response, the Court directed the Chief Secretary of West Bengal to appoint a nodal officer to coordinate directly with the Chief Secretary of Odisha, transmit the Court’s queries, and ensure submission of all relevant documents before the Bench by the next date of hearing.

“For compliance of the order and for placement of all necessary instructions and documents before this Court on the returnable date, we direct the Chief Secretary, Government of West Bengal to coordinate with the Chief Secretary, Government of Odisha.”

West Bengal Advocate General Kishore Dutta, appearing for the state, assured the Court that the government would extend full support to the affected workers and engage with the Odisha administration to resolve the issue. The Bench expressed its expectation that both states would act swiftly and transparently.

The matter will next be taken up on Monday, July 14, 2025, at 12:00 noon, when the Court expects detailed responses and documentary evidence from both states.

As the order was passed in open court in the presence of the Advocate General, the Bench clarified that no further communication is required from the petitioner to West Bengal officials. However, a server copy of the order must be served upon the first three respondents in the case, with an affidavit of service filed on record before the returnable date.

The complete order may be read below.

Download PDF

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As 30 crore workers, farmers join July 9 strike against govt.’s policies, will there be media coverage of the shut down?

sabrang — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 13:05:24 +0000

A staggering 30-40 crore workers and farmers will participate in the general strike on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, declared leaders of 10 central trade unions in New Delhi on Monday (July 7, 2025) while addressing a joint press conference. The leaders said preparations for the strike were complete and large sections of workers had supported the 17-point charter of demands of the strike, called against the Union government’s policies. A forum of 10 central trade unions and their associates has called for a general strike or ‘Bharat Bandh’ to “oppose the anti-worker, anti-farmer and anti-national pro-corporate policies of the government”.

Among key demands of the general strike are the repeal of four Labour Codes, minimum support price (MSP@C2+50%) for all Crops, minimum wages of Rs.26000 per month, ‘No Privatisation of PSU’s’, the estoppal of ‘casualisation of employment’, ‘freedom from indebtedness’, all issues that are critical to protect Indian agriculture, industry and services.

The four Labour codes legalise contract labour based on hire and fire policy. Once implemented, say trade unions and farmer organisations, these Codes, will shatter not only the rights of the existing workforce but the entire new generations of workers in all sectors of the economy. The youth cannot dream of having access to formal employment with social security and retirement benefits. The right to an eight-hour work day will not sustain and new forms of slavery will be imposed on the working people under the guise of ‘ease of doing business’ to facilitate corporate profiteering. Workers will lose the right to unionise, right to bargain for remunerative wage and right to strike. The four labour codes are both authoritarian and undemocratic in character, say the unions that will eventually endanger the independence of the working people and sovereignty of the country. Hence it is vital for all the freedom loving citizens to join the fight to bury the labour codes once and for all.

“Current economic policies are resulting in more unemployment, rising price rise of essential commodities, depression in wages, cut in social sector spending in education, health, basic civic amenities, all this leading to more inequalities and miseries for the poor, lower income group and even middle classes. The government has abandoned the welfare state focus of our country and is working in the interest of foreign and Indian corporates and it is so evident from its policies being pursued vigorously,” the trade union leaders said.

In a statement, they said the trade unions had been fighting against the privatisation of public sector enterprises and public services, the policies of outsourcing, contractualisation and casualisation of workforce, against the anti-workers, pro-employer four Labour Codes meant to suppress and cripple the trade union movement, increase in working hours, to snatch their right to collective bargaining, right to strike, decriminalisation of violation of labour laws by employers, while criminalising the activities of trade unions etc. “The government is making false claims on employment and provisions of social security. The existing social security schemes are being weakened and attempts to bring private players into it are pushed,” they said.

They also added that unions in the coal and minerals sectors, steel, banking and insurance sectors, power, petroleum and telecom industries and the transport sector have given notices for the strike. “We are making continued efforts forging unity and solidarity between the two major productive forces of the country, the workers and farmers,” they said.

Amarjeet Kaur, senior trade union leader and All India Trade Union Congress general secretary, has told the media that the strike is very significant to prepare working class and the farming community and agricultural labourers for a long-drawn battle. Questioning the government move to curb trade union rights, she said investors are not coming to India not because of workers, but because of the government policy of promoting one or two companies. She also asserted while speaking to The Hindu that this general strike will be the start of larger movements in India. When there are close to 15 lakh job vacancies in the central public sector units (PSUs) and central government, why has the Modi 3.0 government started recruiting those who are already retired for lesser salaries and without any social security? They have done this in Railways and in the steel sector. This trend of outsourcing and contractualising many jobs is dangerous as it is causing widespread unemployment, she added.

The notices of the general strike have been served at banks, insurance companies, steel sector, coal sector, minerals and petroleum sector, copper sector and in some airports. Rail workers will also have mobilisations in support of strike, but no strike there. Defence sector is going on strike. The unions have predicted a “bandh-like” of situation in Assam, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Punjab, Bihar, Kerala, West Bengal and in many other States. Opposition parties have been approached by the unions, and they have extended their support. Workers in unions affiliated with the BMS (Bharatiya Mazdoor Saangh, an RSS affiliate) have also reportedly pledged support.

Which sectors are affected due to the Bharat Bandh?

Banking services
Postal services
Coal mining and factories
State transport services
Public sector units and government departments

What’s open on Bharat Bandh?

Schools and colleges
Private offices

Other complaints of the striking organisations include the fact that the government has not been conducting the annual labour conference for the last decade s and continues to take decisions in contravention to the interest of labour force, attempting to impose four labour codes to weaken collective bargaining, to cripple unions’ activities and to favour employers in the name of ‘ease of doing business’.

The forum also alleged that the economic policies are resulting in acute unemployment, rising prices of essential commodities, depression in wages, cut in social sector spending in education, health, basic civic amenities, and all these are leading to more inequalities and miseries for poor, people of lower income group as well as the middle class.

In a statement put out on the eve of the general strike, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) has also appealed to people to make the general strike on July 9, 2025 a grand success. Among key demands as stated above are the repeal of four Labour Codes, MSP@C2+50% for all Crops, Minimum Wage of Rs.26000 / month, ‘No Privatisation of PSU’s’, ‘Stop Casualisation of Employment’, ‘Freedom from Indebtedness’, all of which are critical to protect Agriculture, Industry and Services.

Apart from supporting demands of the workers, SKM urges the peasantry to intensify struggle on independent demands including enact law for MSP@C2+50% with guaranteed procurement for all crops, comprehensive loan waiver to free the peasantry from the debt trap and end rampant peasant suicides across India, withdrawal of National Policy Framework on Agriculture Marketing, not to sign the Indo-US Bilateral Trade Agreement hurting agriculture, industry and services, no privatisation of electricity, end indiscriminate acquisition of land violating the LARR Act 2013, ensure 200 days’ work and Rs.600 as daily wages in NREGS, provide minimum wage, social security and Rs. 10000 monthly pensions for agricultural workers, peasants and rural labourers, formalisation of Scheme workers, legal protection to the rights of migrant workers and tenant farmers among others. The SKM has also called upon the entire working people including farmers, workers and agricultural workers to rally massively to hold tehsil level demonstrations and make the General strike successful.

The General Strike is also against the imposition of free trade agreements on Indian people. US’ dominance on world trade has unleashed all efforts to coerce the Modi Government to impose unfair trade terms and to dump US agricultural products in India. The intention of the free trade agreement is ‘unregulated freedom for US food chains, trading giants and agribusiness corporations to operate in India.’ ‘Tariff free import of huge quantity of highly subsidised milk and milk products, soybean, cotton, mice, wheat, rice, pulses, oilseeds, paddy, GM crops, fruits and vegetables including apple and walnuts, processed and canned foods’ into Indian markets will devastate the income and livelihood of Indian farmers.

The Trump Administration has been compelling the Modi Government to wind up PDS food distribution and withdraw all subsidies for farmers on fuel and fertilisers, says the SKM. It wants India to change its patent laws to suit American companies. These changes will erode the independence of Indian farmers and bring disastrous impact on food security.

The SKM statement also asserts that the Indian people will not accept the ‘enslavement of the workforce’ through four Labour Codes and corporatisation of agriculture. The farmers are on a path of struggle for the last two decades and more to achieve the long pending demands of MSP2 C2+50% with guaranteed procurement and comprehensive loan waiver.

Minimum wage to workers and minimum support price to the farmers are crucial to accomplish higher purchasing power, employment generation and agriculture led growth of the domestic economy. Reversing the anti-worker, anti-farmer policies of the RSS-BJP combine is indispensable to protect the interests of the working people and the country.

This is the 22nd General Strike since the advent of neo-liberal policies in India in 1991. The success of July 9, 2025 strike will ignite more massive, mightier struggles larger than the 2020-21 historic farmers struggle at Delhi borders actively supported by the working class, states the SKM. The massive strike will be intensified until all the genuine demands of the workers and the peasantry are realised. SKM appeals to the entire working people to make the July 9, 2025 General strike as one of the largest ever worker-peasant united action since independence.

Meanwhile, the Central Kisan Committee (CKC) meeting of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) held from June 28-30, 2025 at the E K Nayanar Academy, Kannur, Kerala, decided to hold massive protests on July 9, along with the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) at the tehsil level, and work actively to make the General Strike called by the Central Trade Unions (CTUs) a massive success.

The meeting at Kannur discussed the grim agrarian scenario in the country, and the anti-farmer, pro-corporate policies of the BJP-led NDA government. It also noted that the Congress-led State Governments in Karnataka, Telangana etc are also carrying forward the BJP Government’s policies like Labour Codes, 12-hour work day, land acquisition etc.

The meeting warned against the hurried moves of the Modi regime to sign Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with UK (already signed), USA, EU, etc., which surrender the interests of farmers, workers and MSME entrepreneurs, violate federal principles and put Parliament in the dark. These FTAs will drastically reduce or eliminate import duties on key agricultural products, threatening the livelihoods of millions of Indian farmers, stated the AIKS.

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Whose Interests is India’s Tech Workforce Serving?

sabrang — Tue, 13 May 2025 05:02:04 +0000

It would be rather obvious to say that we live in a world controlled by market forces. We study, so that we can earn. We earn, so that we can own. We own, so that we can invest, so that we can own more, so that…you get the idea.

In this world, labour, like every other commodity that exchanges hands, is expected to yield a certain return to the boss man. But while the market value of other commodities – like gold or petrol – is dictated by scarcity, labour’s market value comes from its abundance. The spectre of unemployment, which is treated as a social, religious, cultural, economic, and political malady, forever looms as a haunting threat above the workers’ heads, forcing them to keep competing with each other.

For most of India’s tech workers, this hyper-competitive environment means exploitative work conditions, precarious living arrangements, and a hierarchical structure that rewards obedience and subservience. But it is also true that this workforce is not a uniform entity. In fact, a certain segment of this group – including the alumni of India’s elite STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) colleges – finds itself in well-paying and relatively more secure jobs.

By thus showering this small group of workers with monetary benefits and perks, the market creates a feedback loop that keeps the majority in check. They are encouraged, incentivised, and, in many cases, threatened, to follow in the steps of their better-paid peers, forced to keep running in the rat race. More importantly, even the supposed winners of this race are not truly free.

For starters, the market alienates these highly-educated and clearly skilled individuals from their own interests, forcing them to work on products and ideas that benefit no one but the valuation of their employers, even if they harm the larger public. What is even worse is that despite sustaining a multi-trillion dollar global economy, this group hardly sees itself as belonging to a larger workforce, let alone a united one.

As a result, far from resisting the market’s demands, these well-off workers become aspiring entrepreneurs – capitalists in making, if you will. From data-hungry apps all the way to pointless, and even harmful, AI (artificial intelligence) tools, they are trained to use their knowledge to do nothing but create whatever is deemed worthy of a reward. Their questions and concerns about the social utility of their labour (if there are any in the first place) are necessarily side-stepped for more relevant factors, such as monetization or investor interest.

Now, is this specific to India? Certainly not. The recent capture of the US state by the Big Tech and ‘crypto’ lobbies, is a clear indication of whose requirements tech workers are really addressing.

Is this limited to tech workers alone? Also, a no. Engineers, scientists, and developers of today are just the latest addition to hordes of workers serving the interests of the ruling classes.

Why Write This? And Why Now?

To begin with, India’s submission to market forces has been dizzyingly quick in the digital economy. Its embrace of certain technologies for governance purposes (like DPIs – digital public infrastructure) and its large-scale support for digitally-enabled startups (through Digital India, Startup India, the IndiaAI Mission, among others) are just the more visible examples of this capitulation. Combine that with our legacy of providing cheap labour to MNCs (multinational corporations) – and, for the past 30 years or so, Indian tech workers have uncritically served the interests of global and domestic capital.

Locally, this has meant an ever-growing interest in engineering courses, especially in computer science and electronics, which has only amplified the competitive pressures on an already exploited workforce. Domestic MNCs, such as Infosys, WIPRO, and TCS, are clear examples of how these ‘high-skilled’ workers are seen as easily replaceable by market giants (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7). And these are just the home-grown capitalists – let us not even get into on Big Tech and how it has completely dismembered any semblance of worker opposition.

The overtly exploited and alienated nature of these workers is only one reason behind focusing on them here. The other reason is that the technologies they develop, which are becoming more and more ubiquitous in our lives, re-create the market’s logic of segmentation, exploitation, and alienation in sectors where it did not exist! Urban Company and its top-down standardisation of beauty workers is a great example of this trend.

Everything from healthcare, education, and banking, to personal communication, media and entertainment is now mediated by a set of extractive digital platforms designed to maximise user engagement and sustain the ad economy that runs today’s internet. While data breaches, financial frauds, and online misinformation are the more noticeable adverse outcomes of such innovations, there is a much darker side of things, too.

Because of the warm relationship that the capitalist class wishes to enjoy with any State, the labour of this workforce also serves the interests of authoritarian governments across the world. This can be best seen in the creation of large-scale surveillance technologies, including Pegasus, which has reportedly been used on Indian civil rights activists.

So, here we are. Subject to the market’s logic of production, the Indian tech workforce presents a bit of an interesting contradiction. Its internal inequality means that most tech workers are too busy surviving and climbing the hierarchy to even question the outcomes of their labour, whereas those with more security are too disillusioned with the capitalist promise of success to even care.

Before this bleak outlook puts you off, one must state that this is not inevitable.

As a start, workers involved in sustaining the digital economy, especially those in relatively secure places, can introspect on the social, economic, and political ramifications of their work. Think of it as a more voluntary analogue to the Hippocratic Oath, but for coders, developers, and designers. Something that ensures that your labour does not power innovations that are harmful (such as deceptive design practices), and certainly not those that are just outright deadly (like, killer drones, maybe?).

But it is also important to recognise that a change in individual attitudes alone would not suffice here. It does not matter if a few workers create more ethical digital technologies — competitive pressures ensure that a small band of such rebels will either be fired and replaced, or if they succeed, they will have to compete in an uphill battle with firms that may not be as interested in paying such ‘ethical costs’ (for the lack of a better word).

Unless such costs are imposed consistently – through regulatory interventions or other external pressures – companies will always have an incentive to shirk these responsibilities in a hyper-competitive environment. As a prominent example, look at how the world’s biggest tech giants quietly went back on their sustainability goals when they realised that serving the AI demand would require them to double down on energy and water consumption!

This gap brings us to the second point.

Educate. Agitate. Organise

As engineers, scientists, and people with technical expertise, this class of workers is not alien to the power of knowledge. And if there is one good thing about the modern internet, it is its sustained (albeit, struggling) democratisation of information.

So, step away from algorithmically enclosed social networks that feed you information passively. Instead, learn about the political value of your work and your labour by seeking answers more actively – be it through books, newsletters, documentaries, audio books, blogs, or just even talking to people around you. Most importantly, learn about the lives not just made because of your innovations, but also those that were disrupted or, worse, destroyed. (A few personal suggestions on books that can help you get started: 1, 2, 3, 4).

You may not feel comfortable seeking this knowledge, and you may not be able to do much with it yet. But this is just the first step.

If all goes well, this experience should ideally force some of you (yes, I’m talking to the IITians and the BITSians here) to confront the realities of your labour. Start with your colleagues. Talk to them about what you are learning and seek out their perspectives on it. Invite them to help you care for this sapling of radical education. You should also feel the urge to question your superiors – in your workplaces, in your colleges, in your ministries. Indulge in this emotion. Nurture it.

And that is not just because asking questions makes you more informed, but also because the act of questioning authority in a public setting normalises that urge in your peers. They may begin to dwell on these issues, too, and who knows, your actions may even earn you an ally. “Sure,” I see you wondering, “but what about the ramifications of raising these questions? What if I am fired, or rusticated, or just alienated?” Fair, and that brings me to ‘Organise.’

You are not the first worker to be facing this conflict. The history of capitalism is filled with examples after examples of workers unionising to fight the employers’ urge to skirt criticism or amplify exploitation. Learn from that history. Global examples like the “Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions” (BDS) movement also provide a recent glimpse of how powerful worker mobilisation and collective action can be (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). Despite their relative nascence, IT/ITes workers’ unions in India are gaining rapid momentum and popularity. Reach out to these organisations, and others like them, and become aware of your rights as an employee, as an independent contractor, or even as an unpaid intern.

Find unity in numbers. And believe it or not, this would definitely require you to repair the rifts caused by systems of religious, caste, and gender oppression inside your workforce. The ruling class is an expert at widening differences between you and your peers to challenge your efforts in all ways possible. So, unless you begin seeing them as equal and dignified fellows, you will be alienated from each other and picked apart by the powers that be.

Last, if you find yourself too introverted or too exhausted to do any of this, consider using your leisure time to volunteer your labour for more equitable solutions.

Use your knowledge and skills to imagine technical alternatives to today’s social media, e-commerce, and search monopolies. India’s foray into DPIs, for all its faults, provides a partial glimpse into what large-scale digital innovations created on the lines of interoperability, openness, and collective ownership could look like. Use these experiences as a springboard to contribute to open-source projects. And if you can, support organisations and institutes that lack the requisite technical capacity to oppose the ongoing onslaught of capital.

The tech workers of this country have remained pawns in the game of wealth transfer for too long now. Initially the affordable back-office of multinational conglomerates, India has since transitioned into an ally to global capitalism. But the tech workforce of this country remains split. Some are lured by the idea of making it big, and fail to realise the implications of their labour on communities out of their sight. And a majority of others – those without access to caste networks and private capital – are made to slog as chattel for mere pittances in a work culture that sucks the life out of you.

This needs to change. This article tries to articulate the need for the many tech workers of today and of the years to come. Your knowledge and your labour deserve more than what the current system of economic production offers you. Worse still, it is your labour that is also responsible for powering and sustaining that same system today.

As students of STEM, we are all much too aware of the double-sided nature of technological progress, but it is high time we realise that we are no longer just passive participants in this journey. You, as an individual, may not be able to do a lot; but you, as a class of workers, can certainly aspire to that.

It will take time, sure, but the question remains: how comfortable are you supporting a system that not only alienates you from your peers, but also makes you support a wasteful, harmful, and exploitative logic of technological growth?

The author is a technology researcher and writer. The views are personal.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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