In the run-up to the 2014 general elections, Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party campaigned aggressively on the plank of job and employment generation. Having promised to create over two crore new jobs every year, the prime minister has since reiterated this commitment with the launch of a slew of schemes and programmes over the past four years. In August 2018, Modi claimed that, in the previous financial year, “more than 70 lakh jobs were created in the formal sector alone.”
 

Despite the sound and fury of the Narendra Modi-led BJP government’s employment generation schemes, data on manufacturing shows that the sector has not seen any growth in the past four years.

But a January 2019 report by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, or CMIE, a business information company, reveals that as many as 1.9 crore people lost their jobs in 2018, while the unemployment rate shot up to 7.4 percent in December 2018, the highest in 15 months. According to the annual household surveys, conducted by the labour bureau, India’s rate of unemployment has seen a persistent upward trend since 2013-2014. This trend accelerated steeply in 2018, as per the report. Most of the Modi government’s policies on employment have focussed on self-employment, skill development, incentivising employers to facilitate employment generation and promotion of export-oriented manufacturing. These policies have been executed via several schemes: Make in India; the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojna, or PMKVY, also known as Skill India; the Pradhan Mantri Employment Generation Programme, or PMEGP; the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Scheme, or PMMS; and the Pradhan Mantri Rozgar Protsahan Yojana, or PMRPY.

Read the full story here https://caravanmagazine.in/government/policy-narendra-modi-job-schemes-unemployment-labour
 

The post How and Why Modi’s Job Schemes have led to high Unemployment appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Once upon a time there  was a 15 year old boy called Hamid, who went shopping on the day of Eid with his Eidi .  A few days ago there was Junaid who went shopping on the eve of Eid.  Premchand’s Hamid was an orphan and lived with his grandmother in extreme poverty. 

Junaid lived surrounded with love of his brothers, a sister, a doting mother, father and friends. Instead of the old, decrepit house of Hamid,  Junaid’s house has two rooms, it is not falling apart but it’s size and unplastered walls, do speak about the economic condition of his family.

As we approached Khandawli, Junaid’s village in Ballabhgarh a fear gripped me.  I did not have the courage to walk upto the house.  Junaid was brutally murdered on 22nd and here I was on 25th.  It was too soon, my mind said.  I should have let Eid pass.  But how could I have prepared Sewai in my house when a mother like myself had lost a young, healthy, happy child to hindutva fanatics?  I am a mother, I was angry and ashamed at home. And here, standing outside Junaid’s door, I was weak and helpless. Useless too.

Junaid’s grandfather met us outside the house, his daughter-in-law was unwell and Junaid’s father had gone to Police station.  We sat  down on the charpais and tried to tell him that we were not from a political party nor were we Journalists.  But he had not even asked us who we were! He wasn’t waiting for us or anyone in particular. All he said was, “We want ‘aman’, why did we fight against the British? So that we could live in our country with peace. Pardhan Mantri is the ‘maa and baap’ for all citizens, if he wants he can get us justice,”.  This man had faith in Modi!!! He was hoping Modi would be able to get him Justice!!! I guess he just had old time innocence.

He let us go to the terrace to meet Junaid’s mother, Saira. There she was, stony eyed, not a tear, only a wail coming out of her.  Her daughter was combing her hair while two ladies from the neighbourhood were sitting beside her, silently listening to Saira’s chilling wail, as if it had frozen them. I froze too.  I sat in front of her but kept away.  Gunit, my friend, had the courage to sit next to her and hold her hand. Gunit started talking and after what seemed like a very long time later, Saira, responded with tears and ‘mera beta’, ‘mera beta’, ‘moh ko ek hath se Utah leta tha’ , ‘abhi hafiz bana tha’, ‘amma naya suit pehan ke aiyo mere madarse mein’ ‘amma sabko dawat denge’ ‘jo jo usne kaha bibi maine sab kiya’,  “jab hafiz baniyo tab main gayi to maulana ka kapda, unki biwi ka kapda, saare Bachchon  ka khana  le ke gayi, yahan se Jane se pehle Maine inko apne paas se paise nikaal ke diye our 10-10 ke naye note mangwaye, wahan dawat ke baad har bachche ko 10-10 rupaiye diye.   Itta khush, itta khush ho gaya mera beta, bola amma tu toh kamaal kar di, har bachcha tujhe hi yaad  karey  hai madarase mein, ke jo junaid hafiz bana toh hamey 10 ka naya note mila, tu too mashoor ho gayi amma!!! aur khoob hanse  tha!!! Abhi sehri mein moh se kunda le ke chal diyo ke amma tu baith aaj mein tujhe khilaonga…….” Saira kept describing Junaid’s innocent boyhood and we all cried with her. Saira’s question – ‘lekin kyon, mere beta toh rozey se tha, bhooka-pyasa, woh kaisey kuch kha sakta tha’ is still resounding in my ears. Saira knew Junaid was called a cow-eater before being killed. Ramzan is over and now Eid has passed too.  Unlike Premchand’s Hamid who lived in Hindustan, Junaid lived in a Hindu Rashtra. So did Najeeb and Rohit Vemula. I can still see Rohit’s mother marching with the protestors, Najeeb’s mother being forcefully carried away by police and Pehlu Khan’s 80 year old mother wiping her tears! Why is it that in a hyper masculine fascist agenda – woman is the biggest looser?

The disappearances, suicides, public floggings and lynchings are not  spontaneous acts of hurt-sentiments-venting-out by ‘Hindus’ as our BJP-RSS leaders have been claiming. Rohith Vemula was reduced to ‘his immediate identity, a vote, a number’ in his own words, he was marginalised and ignored to the extent of suffocation. Junaid must have felt the same suffocation.

Rohit was driven to suicide, Junaid was murdered, and no one was responsible! This indifference and numbness towards the lives of minorities is typical of Brahminical gaze. Can such people create a non-casteist Hindu Rashtra, as claimed by BJP-RSS? Will a Hindu Rashtra make our problems disappear?  What will happen if all muslims were eliminated from India? Will you have better roads, clean water, clean ganga, no pollution, no land mafia, no rapes, no murders, no beggars, no poor, no unemployed, no homeless, no farmer suicides? Why then do Indian Hindus go crazy over this idea of Hindu Rashtra? The movement is already violent and till now it has only delivered political power to the likes of Modi and Amit Shah. To keep us engaged like irritant kids, they have dumped upon us the idea of Hindu nationalism. Nationalism requires symbols that arouse emotions.  And since RSS or Hindutva-wadis didn’t play a role in the actual nationalist movement of India during the freedom struggle they are creating these symbols now. They have to re-write history and re-wire people’s understanding of history.  The truth is their ideologue, ‘Veer’ Savarkar, originator of the concept of hindutva petitioned the British government several times when he was in Jail, betraying the national movement:
 

• “…if the government in their manifold beneficence and mercy releases me, I for one cannot but be the staunchest advocate of constitutional progress and loyalty to the English government…I’m ready to serve the government in any capacity they like….”

(Savarkar’s letter asking for forgiveness dated November 14, 1913 is reprinted in a book, Penal Settlement In Andamans, published by the Gazetteers Unit of Union ministry of education.)

When a political party inspired by Savarkar, who was ready to be a loyal servant of the British, wants to take charge of Independent India, they know they have no roots. But ‘others’ do! Muslims have deep roots in India and were also at the forefront of the freedom struggle. RSS can’t digest that. They are trying hard to claim Ambedkar’s legacy but not of Ashfaqullah Khan or Barakatullah of Ghadar party or Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan who spent 45 years in Jail!  They uproot the ‘other’. A road in Aurangzeb’s name is not acceptable but to hang the portrait of Savarkar with Mahatma Gandhi, inside the Parliament?!!!

History is distorted, manipulated and created to suit a rootless Hindu nationalism. Since minorities can’t be sent to gas chambers, they have to be either invisible or assimilated. Their identities  have to be wiped out for the hindu nationalist to feel rooted in Hindu rashtra. Any visible identity markers like skull caps and beards must lead to mob lynchings, while the hindu fanatics wear their religion on their sleeves! A gathering of muslims terrify hindus, a lot of them tell me they are scared of venturing into the ‘muslim areas’.  Earlier the refrain was ‘all terrorists are muslims’, can I now say ‘all lynchers are hindus’?  No.  I have to qualify them as ‘fanatics’!  Hindu nationalists did this to Sikhs too. In the anti-sikh riots of 1984 a lot of Sikhs had to cut their hair and beards for fear of being identified. Dalits live in mortal fear of being looted, murdered or raped at the slightest resentment.  Shabbirpur village in Saharanpur is a recent witness of domination by force.  And the propaganda is that Hindus are the most peaceful race!

All these years of demonising muslims has created a consensus among the general Janta too about the ‘place’ of muslims in India.  It is either ‘muslims should behave themselves’ or ‘get out’ of India. What behaviour? “To live like second grade citizens, to not have the right to vote, to live at the mercy of Hindus, to be plundered and raped in our graves”, as claimed by Yogi’s outfit. Yogi is not fringe, he is not an extremist, he is a mainstream politician elected by Hindus. Why do hinds elect such people again and again? Is this what they want? This “putting muslims in their place” is not a new phenomenon, I remember the other black Eid in 1987 when VHP painted the walls in Meerut with the slogan, “If you want to live in India, live like Hindus”. In 1991, it became, “Hindustan main rehna hai to Jai Shri Ram kehna hoga”. Why? Hindu Rashtra belongs to manuwadi, brahminical Hindus, majority of whom have turned against Indian muslims. Indian Muslims are treated like a punching bag on which nationalist hindus take out their anger, frustration, irritation. By hitting the muslims, hindus de-stress themselves, it works like a feel good factor.  They use the free Hindu licence (issued by Modi sarkar) to vent out on muslims or dalits. Moreover they also have the guarantee of ‘No Witnesses’ so they can hound us publicly, as a pack, tamasha is in full swing. Else there wouldn’t be 200 people on the railway platform, all of whom  saw NOTHING when Junaid and his two brothers were stabbed in broad daylight. Sure there are those who stand in protest with Indian Muslims. Be thankful to them but know that it is not enough.

Lynchings are psychological too. They happen in offices, parties, parks, neighbourhoods.  My identity has been reduced to my name hundreds of times! Anyone at any time can point a finger at us and call us – Pakistani, anti national, Babar ki aulad, Aurangzeb ki aulad, mullah, katuey, kat-mullah, beef eater, ….They don’t care if these ‘names’ hurt us! They may do so as a joke, “c’mon yaar don’t be so serious”, “madam, aap zyada hypersensitive ho”, using both ‘hyper’ & ‘zyada’ when I feel bad but when the hindu feels bad, it becomes a matter of ‘insult to the nation’ or ‘insult to hinduism’.  This ‘anti-national muslim’ construct, has been created by no less than our Prime Ministers. In 1983 Assam elections, Vajpayee and Advani, backed with RSS, successfully turned the local Assam agitation into an anti-muslim ferment.  They fanned hatred by calling Assamese muslims ‘outsiders’ in their own homeland. Vajpayee had said, “Foreigners have come here; and the government does nothing.  What if they had come into Punjab instead, people would have chopped them into pieces and thrown them away”.  And sure enough 4000 muslims were hacked to death in the Nellie massacre, within a few months of his speech.

Moradabad. Nellie. Hashimpura. Ayodhya. Bombay. Gujarat. Muzzafar nagar…….
Vajpayee. Advani. Modi. Amit Shah. Yogi….
Muslim monster. Riots. Elections…

This is what we are up against: Ruthless politicians armed with politics of hate. The fact that it yields rich political dividends is a no brainer but the fact that majority of Hindus vote for them is telling of the community.  Advani himself had said, “Had I not played the  Ram factor effectively, I would have definitely lost from the New Delhi constituency,” (18.06.1991).  Vajpayee didn’t lag behind either, during the same election campaign, he claimed that the construction of ‘Ram temple at Ayodhya was necessary to save the honour of the Hindu community’ (TOI, 13.05.1991).  Sushma Swaraj called the construction of temple in place of mosque, “a matter of national honour”.  Ashok Singhal said no excavation was necessary as “temple is a matter of faith and identity of crores of Hindus”.  Therefore, No litigation. No court. Justice delivered by the mob. Babri masjid was demolished to establish Ram mandir – a symbol of Hindu nationalism.

Modi openly laughed in his rallies across Gujarat, addressing Muslims as the community that lived by the philosophy of “hum paanch, hamare pachees”.  In his Gujarat Gaurav Yatra, he repeated, “We have to teach a lesson to those who are increasing population at an alarming rate”. In another address he referred to Gujarat riot victim’s camps as “breeding grounds and child producing centres” –  reducing the community to an ‘unwanted burden’ in the Hindu Rashtra. And yet Indian Hindus voted for him to become the Prime Minister. Why? In recent UP elections too he created a ‘kabristaan vs shamshaan’ and the ‘electricity on Eid vs Holi’ divide – presenting the muslims as the ones taking away from the hindu plate. His election rallies end with ‘Bharat mata ki jai or Vande matram’ but does he really care for mata, matram or mothers? Maybe Rohit’s mother or Najeeb’s mother, will be able to tell.

Cow is the new symbol of honour of the Hindu community.  Cow is said to be the mother of brahmin Hindus.  I wonder, for this mother to have her “rightful place” in the history of Hindu Rashtra, how many muslim mothers will loose their sons and husbands to lynching mobs? Sadhus and Sadhvis equated the lynchers with Bhagat Singh!!! It is a Public Honour. The ignorance and arrogance of it all is stupefying.  And once again: No litigation. No court. Justice is delivered by the mob. A nationalist mob, the Gau Rakshaks are honourable citizens with complete immunity from the state.

BJP and its Hindutva brigade has blood on it hands. It is blood thirsty still. It is  desperate for 2019…And Hindus* may vote for them yet again!

Indian muslims are the first game in the slaughter chain, while being accused of appeasement! It’s a double whammy! It is cleverly coded communal politics. The idea is to keep us in a continuous state of riots, relief camps, repression. The idea is also to make the biggest minority irrelevant in India.

Are the Indian Muslims ready to take on this fight against a communal state, a complicit state machinery and at best an indifferent majority? No. Because we are the most socio-economically backward community, worse off than Dalits. Indian governments will not provide ‘muslim areas’ with development infrastructure like schools, drainage, roads, water,…but will spread the propaganda that muslims do not want to study, that we are unhygienic, that we want to live in ghettos.  We have to be a “self-made” community. We have to build everything on our own – schools, colleges, dispensaries, hospitals, parks, drains, whatever and then go out and compete in the mainstream.  There will be social biases. We have to defy it all.

Indian muslims have been at the margins for far too long, this has led to the belief that, ‘that’ is our place.  No. Let no Amit Shah tell us that we are here to repair cycle punctures.
* (All hindus may not vote for BJP-RSS but all those who vote for Modi are Hindus)

Today, the truth is that majority of Indian Hindus sway to the tune of Modi whether it is the foot soldiers or virtual soldiers of hindutva, rural or urban, illiterate or educated. They are prisoners of Modi.

The truth is also that there are other minorities at the receiving end of hindutva fanaticism. Dalits. Sikhs. Christians.Tribals. The examples speak for themselves. The Dalit and Akali movements are strong enough to force BJP-RSS to appease them, even if through politics of tokenism. Muslims must learn and learn fast from these movements. A grass root movement of our own that reaches out to build solidarities with other vulnerable groups like Dalits, SCs, STs, LGBT,…is required. The only way to break the hindutva narrative is through alliance, progressive ideology and education. We must recognise and acknowledge our allies, respect their integrity and camaraderie.

Remember we have been the punching bag, we have been hit too hard for too long.  It’s our turn to come back like the punching bag and hit the brazen fanatics in the face.  It is possible to knock them down!

Courtesy: Kafila.online
 

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Taking potshots at the Centre’s flagship manufacturing initiative, Bajaj said, “If your innovation in the country depends on the Government approval or the judicial process, it will not be a case of ‘Made in India’, but ‘Mad in India’. After five years, we are still waiting for permission to sell our four-wheeler in the country.”

The Managing Director of Bajaj Auto was addressing a gathering of IT industry executives. Stating the quadri-cycle is being sold across countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America, Bajaj wondered why a vehicle which is cleaner, fuel-efficient, safer and whose benefits are as “obvious as daylight”, is facing troubles.

“This is the only country that has not given us permission to sell this vehicles. Because for some reason it thinks if four-wheeler is worse, let people continue on three-wheeler,” Bajaj was quoted by PTI.

It can be noted the Pune-based auto major, the largest three-wheeler maker in the world, has faced multiple hurdles in launching the ambitious vehicle in the country. Meanwhile, Bajaj said that his company was “anti-car”, and sought to dismiss notions regarding two-wheelers being dangerous, saying it is reckless driving which makes two- wheeler riders most vulnerable.

“We feel people should either walk, cycle or use a two-wheeler. Cars are too big, too fast. they pollute, they congest and kill all of us on two-wheelers. People say two-wheelers are dangerous, My submission is two-wheelers are dangerous only when hit by a car.”
Bajaj announced his company was working on a new solution for urban mobility on the last mile connectivity which is safer and cleaner than the available alternatives, but declined to divulge additional details on the same.

He rubbished suggestions of getting back into manufacturing scooters, saying the company does not look it as an extension of manufacturing motorcycles and will continue to focus on its core strength.

“Media and analysts call it de-risking. It is not, it is gambling! this is playing darts, distraction and fragmentation of resources. You must be like (Mahabharat hero) Arjun, see eye of the bird and go for it,” he said, adding Bajaj Auto wants to increase its 10 per cent market share of global motorcycle sales.

(With inputs from PTI copy)
 

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Newsclick talked to Prof. Biswajit Dhar on the relation between Make in India campaign and the net inflow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Their study shows that there is no major link between the two. Bulk of the FDI comes in the form of mergers and takeovers. This just changes the ownership of various companies. It does not add to the productive capacity of the economy. A significant proportion of Indian capital is being routed through tax-havens to evade tax and receive preferential treatment. Retained earnings from profits are being repatriated abroad by foreign companies. Instead of net foreign capital inflow, which increases the productive capacity of the country, we are witnessing net outflow from capital-scarce India. Net balance on the FDI account is turning out to be negative.

Courtesy: Newsclick.in

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रपट में कहा गया है कि निवेश की परख घरेलू उत्पादन में नयी क्षमता विस्तार से की जानी चाहिए ना कि घरेलू कोष को घुमा फिराकर निवेश करने के रूप में की जानी चाहिये।

रपट के अनुसार भारत के विकास में एफडीआई योगदान के बारे में दिए जाने वाले बयान भ्रमित करने वाले हो सकते हैं और इसमें इन महत्वपूर्ण पक्षों :नयी क्षमता विस्तार: की अनदेखी की जाती है। भारत को इस संबंध में एक लक्ष्य आधारित दृष्टिकोण अपनाना चाहिए।

इस रपट को इंस्टीट्यूट फॉर स्टडीज इन इंडस्ट्रियल डेवलपमेंट :आईएसआईडी: के सेवानिवृत्त प्रोफेसर के. एस. चलपति राव और जवाहर लाल नेहरू विश्वविद्यालय के प्रोफेसर बिस्वाजीत धर ने तैयार किया है। इस संबंध में आईएसआईडी ने एक अध्ययन कराया था।

गौरतलब है कि सरकार ने सितंबर 2014 में ‘मेक इन इंडिया’ पहल की शुरूआत की थी ताकि रक्षा, खाद्य प्रसंस्करण समेत 25 क्षेत्रों में विनिर्माण को बढ़ावा दिया जा सके।

The post विशेषज्ञों ने ‘मेक इन इंडिया’ अभियान की सफलता पर उठाये सवाल appeared first on SabrangIndia.

दुनिया की सबसे बड़ी कॉन्ट्रैक्ट मैन्युफैक्चरर और मोदी सरकार के मेक इन इंडिया प्रॉजेक्ट की पोस्टर बॉय मानी जाने वाली कंपनी फॉक्सकॉन ने अपने 8,000 फैक्ट्री वर्कर्स में से करीब एक चौथाई को दो हफ्तों के लिए पेड लीव पर जाने को कह दिया है। हाई वैल्यू वाले नोटों को रद्द करने के सरकारी फरमान के बाद कैश क्रंच की स्थिति बनने से फोन सेल्स लगभग 50% घट गई है और कंपनी को प्रॉडक्शन आधा करना पड़ा है।

ईटी के अनुसार, इंडस्ट्री के लोगों का कहना है कि नोटबंदी के बाद से मोबाइल फोन की मंथली सेल्स आधी होकर 175-200 करोड़ रुपये पर आ गई है और हालात सुधरने की उम्मीद नजर नहीं आ रही है। इंटेक्स, लावा और कार्बन सहित बड़ी लोकल कंपनियां या तो छंटनी करने या अपने वर्कफोर्स के 10 से 40 पर्सेंट हिस्से को काम बंद करने की योजना बना रही हैं। लावा अपना प्लांट 12 दिसंबर से एक हफ्ते के लिए बंद कर रही है। वहां करीब 5,000 लोग काम करते हैं। सूत्रों ने बताया कि दूसरी कंपनियां भी जल्द यही राह पकड़ सकती हैं।

चाइना की शाओमी, ओपो और जियोनी के अलावा इनफोकस और नोकिया के साथ लावा, इंटेक्स, कार्बन और माइक्रोमैक्स के लिए डिवाइसेज फॉक्सकॉन ही बनाती है। एक्सपर्ट्स का कहना है कि इंडिया में असेंबल होने वाले हैंडसेट्स में से करीब 50 प्रतिशत फॉक्सकॉन तैयार करती है। फॉक्सकान की मैन्युफैक्चरिंग डिटेल्स जानने वाले एक इंडस्ट्री एग्जिक्युटिव ने कहा, 'आंध्र प्रदेश के श्री सिटी में चार प्लांट हर महीने 12 लाख फोन बनाने की कपैसिटी पर काम कर रहे हैं। पहले वहां 25 लाख फोन बना करते थे।' कंपनी ने करीब 1700 कर्मचारियों को या तो रेग्युलर काम से हटा दिया है या उन्हें दो हफ्तों के लिए जबरन पेड लीव पर भेज दिया है।

इंटेक्स टेक्नॉलजीज के प्रॉडक्ट हेड यू एम थाजथ ने कहा, 'दिसंबर का पहला हफ्ता वाकई बुरा रहा। अब हम प्रॉडक्शन घटाने और सेमी-नॉक्ड डाउन किट्स का इंपोर्ट टालने के बारे में सोच रहे हैं।' इंटेक्स के एक अन्य अधिकारी ने कहा कि कंपनी के नोएडा प्लांट से 500-600 लोगों की जनवरी में छंटनी कर दी जाएगी। लावा इंटरनैशनल के एक सीनियर अधिकारी ने कहा, 'फैक्ट्री फ्लोर पर काम करने वाले सभी 5,000 लोगों से कह दिया गया है कि वो सोमवार से एक हफ्ते तक न आएं क्योंकि स्मार्टफोन और फीचर फोन का पूरा प्रॉडक्शन इस दौरान बंद रहेगा।'

Courtesy: National Dastak
 

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Image: The Hindu

‘डूइंग बिजनेस 2017’ नाम की रिपोर्ट को मंगलवार (25 अक्टूबर) को जारी किया गया। इसमें 190 देशों की लिस्ट में भारत 130वें स्थान पर है। इस लिस्ट में सबसे ऊपर सिंगापुर हुआ करता था लेकिन अब न्यूजीलैंड ने इसपर अपना कब्जा जमा लिया है। भारत सरकार अपनी रैंकिंग से काफी निराश है। सरकार की तरफ से जारी बयान में कहा गया कि उसने सुधार के लिए जो 12 कदम उठाए उनपर गौर नहीं किया गया।

लिस्ट में इस वक्त सिंगापुर दूसरे नंबर पर है। उसके बाद उसके बाद क्रमश: डेनमार्क, हांगकांग, दक्षिण कोरिया, नार्वे, ब्रिटेन, अमेरिका, स्वीडन तथा पूर्व यूगोस्लाव मैसिडोनिया गणराज्य का स्थान है। सूची में पाकिस्तान 144वें स्थान पर है।

भाषा की खबर के अनुसार, औद्योगिक नीति एवं संवर्द्धन विभाग के सचिव रमेश अभिषेक ने कहा कि दर्जन भर महत्वपूर्ण सुधार सरकार ने किए हैं जिनमें दिवाला संहिता, जीएसटी, इमारत योजना की मंजूरी के लिए एकल खिड़की प्रणाली, ऑनलाइन कर्मचारी राज्य बीमा आयोग और भविष्य निधि पंजीकरण जैसे सुधार शामिल हैं।

इन सभी पर विश्वबैंक ने इस साल विचार नहीं किया है। विभाग ने कहा कि वह सुधारों पर आगे काम जारी रखेगा। इसके लिए बाहरी एजेंसियों की नियुक्ति, हितधारकों से बातचीत इत्यादि शामिल है। उन्होंने कहा कि हम विश्वबैंक के साथ मुलाकात जारी रखेंगे और उन्हें इस बात के लिए राजी करेंगे कि हमारे द्वारा किए गए इन 12 प्रमुख सुधारों को अपनी रपट में शामिल करें। मोदी सरकार व्यापार सुगमता के लिये प्रयास कर रही है और उसका लक्ष्य देश को शीर्ष 50 में लाना है।

Courtesy: Janta ka Reporter

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 Context

Let’s go back to 1985 when a draft bill presented by an NGO, for the first time introduced the concept of regulation of working conditions, rather than complete prohibition of child labour. Groups working with children and child labour were all drawn into a nationwide debate. They were divided in their stand. One group felt that, although it may not be possible to eliminate child labour immediately, any move — legal or programmatic must be towards elimination. The second group felt that since child labour was a ‘harsh reality’ steps must be taken to ensure that they are not further exploited and therefore, legal measures were required to ensure this.[1] This draft was what was converted into the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986.
 
For those of us who have been witnesses to the debates around child labour since the 1980s, there is sense of déjà vu. The PIB release that released on May 16, 2015 says – However, while considering a total prohibition on the employment of child, it would be prudent to also keep in mind the country’s social fabric and socio-economic conditions. In a large number of families, children help their parents in their occupations like agriculture, artisanship etc. and while helping the parents, children also learn the basics of occupations. Therefore, striking a balance between the need for education for a child and the reality of the socio-economic condition and social fabric in the country, the Cabinet has approved that a child can help his family or family enterprise, which is other than any hazardous occupation or process, after his school hours or during vacation”.
 
This could be an undated statement as this is exactly the same argument that the government had made in 1985-86 to allow for children to be able to work in family based work or for skill training, even if it was hazardous. The only difference in 2015 is that while making  an exception for children to be engaged in family based enterprises, the current bill  qualifies it by saying that children must continue in school as per their Right to Education, and specifies that the family enterprise must not be hazardous. But therein lies the gap.
 
Loopholes in the law- are they deliberate?

‘Family’ is defined in the proposed bill as child’s mother, father, brother, sister and father’s sister and brother and mother’s sister and brother. It uses the word ‘help’ to describe the child’s involvement in the family enterprise (after school hours and during vacations).
 
In a feudal, caste driven Indian society what do these provisions amount to? Child labour in India has become so normalised that there is neither shock nor shame – it is a ‘necessary evil’. Since most family based occupations in India are caste based, the exception in Section 3 in the law, which allows children to work in family occupations, will only keep the caste system intact-like, for a potter's son/daughter to be a potter, a weaver's child to be a weaver and so on. Without doubt, this kind of a law will worst affect the Dalit and the marginalised who are at the bottom of the caste hierarchy. The Ministry officials of course say that this is taking the argument too far!
 
But, why would the government of a country, that is today by its own admission, the fastest growing economy of the world, feel compelled to justify and keep children in labour despite Parliamentary Standing Committee examining the bill saying: "The ministry is itself providing loopholes by inserting this proviso since it would be very difficult to make out whether children are merely helping their parents or are working to supplement the family income. Further, allowing children to work after school is detrimental to their health as rest and recreation is important for their physical and cognitive development."[2]The Committee also stated that rest and recreation is of utmost importance for the mental and physical development of a child and that working will only adversely affect their studies and their health.
 
Clearly, the Committee was more cognisant of the fact that children in India find it very hard to continue in school. That is why despite rising enrolment, retention is not that great. It is the girls, the Dalits and tribals who are ones who drop out to ‘help’ the family.
 
It must be recognised that the assumption, that ‘cultural traditions’ have to be accepted without intriguing into the inherent inequalities, perpetuates certain historic exploitative practices. It has been argued that any abstraction of child labour from children’s work accords social acceptability to some forms of child-work, masking marked ideological and gender biases in society. [3]
 
The officials of the Ministry of Labour and Employment who have drafted this bill say that this proviso is imperative to prevent criminalisation of parents and families. As  a  very senior official said “this explanation or exception is necessary, otherwise if I ask my child to put a  nail on the wall—that too can be counted as child labour and lead to my prosecution- see how dowry law is used to harass innocent people. We don’t want a similar situation with this law”.
 
A quick look at the government’s ownstatistics of prosecution tells us how limited the use of the law has been in the past.

 
What is more, the government also noted that most employers were acquitted by the courts as the prosecution failed to prove the offence due to the casual approach of the prosecution witnesses and inability to produce independent witnesses. [4]
 
Under these circumstances, is it at all likely that ‘zealous members of society’ that sees child labour as normal and necessary or labour inspectors who have been ineffectual in the past, will go around snooping into people’s houses only to pick up poor parents and prosecute them?
 
Defining or conceptualising child labour has been and continues to be one of the most complex issue as it involves three difficult-to-define concepts ‘child’, ‘work’and‘labour’. Each of them is defined differently by different countries and internationally. As stated by Burra, “those who have argued for narrow definition have best been motivated in part by the desire to reduce the size of the problem and thus make it manageable. But this conceptual sleight of hand flies in the face of common sense results in making the work of millions of children invisible to public policy and public action.”[5] This indeed is the reality even today.
 
Moreover, apparently non-exploitative, the notion of domestic work needs unpacking in the light of the fact that many children never get enrolled in school or are forced to drop out because they have to look after the home chores or undertake sibling care,  and this is especially true for girls.  This was an area that was highlighted and discussed even when the debate around child labour was at its nascent stage and continues to be as relevant today.
 
Children will and must support their families or ‘help’ their parents- they do so today and they will continue to do so. The problem lies in the inclusion of this proviso in the law, especially since we are well aware that the notion of family is a very wide and ambiguous in India. This is exactly the kind of legal loophole that has led to the continuation of child labour till now. Past experience of implementation of the law that had a similar proviso (Section 3 of the CLPRA, 1986) has amply shown that this was the one way in which children were tied to home based work and exploited.
 
Given the reality that the trafficking of children is rampant, in the back drop of the wide concept of family, this could also lead to children being trafficked for work as many traffickers claim that the children in their care are ‘family’. In the absence of comprehensive birth registration it may be very difficult to ascertain whether a child is really part of the family or not. In addition, many families may host children from the extended family as part of informal kinship care.

Remember, that the government is also in the middle of discussions on sponsorship- which will include kinship care.
 
And although all children are banned from working in hazardous occupations, the 16 occupations and 65 processes that were listed as hazardous in the 1986 law has now been replaced in the Bill with -mines, inflammable substance and hazardous processes which has the meaning assigned to it in clause (cb) of the Factories Act, 1948. These are the same that will also apply to the 14-18 year olds categorised as ‘adolescents’ in the Bill. 
 
This reduction in the number of occupations that fall into this category and no provisions in it for an increase in this list, means that children will be employed in domestic work, hotel and dhabas and several other such places that have now come to be recognized as extremely hazardous occupations.

 
Besides, every day newer ‘occupations’ are coming up which are hazardous and dangerous. For example when the law in 1986 was formulated, there was no employment related to e-wasteand no one can deny that children engaged in working with e-waste are in extremely hazardous occupations! Similarly the impact of working with pesticides on children in agriculture was not there in the past neither was working with bags full of hair to make wigs!But they will not find a place in the law.
 
Also, this proviso has been put in without taking into consideration the fact that although free and compulsory education is a right of children in the age-group of 6-14 years, we have only seen an increase in the enrolment rates, while attendance and retention of the students is still a challenge we are yet to overcome. In a situation when children feel compelled to work to support their families, there is a greater likelihood of their dropping out of school.
 
The second provison that has been included in the Bill is address children working as an artist in the audio- visual entertainment industry or in sports activities except circus. These are welcome inclusions given the large number of children in advertisements and reality shows today, or to address the fate of children like Budhia.[6]But what about children who are street performers and acrobats risking their lives on ropes and poles (although not in circus, what they do is not very different) or “artists” who are singing and dancing late into the night in restaurants and weddings? They are not covered by this law. Is that because they are needed to preserve our rich social fabric? There is a definite class bias to the law that needs to be addressed.
 
In fact it is high time to consider an amendment to Article 24 of the Constitution of India which identifies child labour as only those children below the age of 14 years and bans employment of child labour in only hazardous employments. In doing so, it remains  silent on employment of children above the age of 14 years and allows a statutory distinction between ‘hazardous’ and ‘non-hazardous’ sectors of employment,  which has resulted in a serious challenge in dealing with the issue.  It does not tell us what is to be done with the remaining children between the age of 14-18 years. This is important because this is how children have come to be defined in the National Policy for Children, 2013 and the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000, National Plan of Action for Children, 2005 and other legal and policy instruments.
 
The Ministry of Labour and Employment says that the law is drafted keeping in view the option that the age upto which free and compulsory education will be made available can be raised and the law on child labour will be applicable accordingly. This is very welcome as today, the Right to Free and Compulsory Education law which only gives the right to education upto 14 years, or class eight, needs review as it does not qualify children for any further education or entry into any skill based/ vocational training in any recognised institute such as ITIs.  The age of child labour would then automatically be raised and our children protected. There is a clear argument for increasing the age of right to free and compulsory education to a minimum of secondary education so that children are protected from labour and exploitation. Although this is not in the purview of discussions around this bill, given the intrinsic connection between education and child labour, this cannot be ignored.
 
While in the 1980s and before, “nimble hands” were needed to knot carpets, today they are needed to cross-pollinate BT Cotton Seeds! It is perfectly justified! Most of middle class India, including many bureaucrats and political leaders feel it is perfectly “OK” to employ children as domestic workers as the children of the poor “need” to protection of art, culture and crafts and children’s working to do that is also justified.
 
This amendment to the child labour law must not be read in isolation. For example read the definition of family enterprise which means any work, profession, manufacture or business which is performed by the members of the family with the engagement of other persons along with the proposed Small Factories (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Services) Bill that seeks to exempt units employing less than 40 workers from 14 labour laws including the child labour law[7]etc. Will these small factories also be part of “Family enterprises” that children will be “helping” in? The Factories Amendment Bill[8] continues to have several clauses that allows for children below 14 years to continue working.
 
Indeed, this Bill must be seen and analysed in the context of the dilution of labour laws and standards in the country and the move towards greater informalisation of labour and the push towards manufacturing in the unorganised sector. As Mr. Shankar Aggarwal, Secretary Ministry of Labour and Employment is quoted saying “All the amendments are being done keeping in mind three things—need of the times, workers’ protection and creating an environment for more job creation,” ….“Every year, the country needs to create an excess of 10 million jobs and for that manufacturing sector is key. The proposed labour reforms will help the pace of industrialization while keeping workers’ rights intact.”[9]
 
Clearly the main stress of the Ministry is to create jobs to meet the needs for manufacturing, not so much to protect children. In this backdrop, when production is pushed into the homes, who is to regulate the entry of children into the work force? This is nothing but keeping the un-scrutinised and the unregulated informalisation of labour alive, so that corporates can ‘make in India’ without having to deal with the labour unions and the labour laws.
 
Not convinced? Watch a film Stained Glass by Meera Dewan[10]. She had made a poignant, and for many of us, a life changing film- Whose Children in 1986, just as the discussion on the child labour bill was on. She has followed the children that were there in her film in 1986 into their adulthood in Stained Glass. As we discuss the new amendment, it is good to see what those children of 1986 and now adults of today have to say, as also the child labourers of today.
 
Is it not a shame for the fastest growing economy of the world to continue with its growth path on the backs of children and justifying it as a social reality?  And is it not time that the law on child labour was aspirational rather than a reflection of “harshsocial reality”? 
 
Laws can be used to lead the change and this is one such opportunity that has come after 29 years. Let us not lose it. 
 

ProChild Coalition: New Child Labour Bill will push more children into hazardous work

A hindi version of the Press Release by the Pro-Child Coalition can be found here

After 30 years the government has introduced a new child labour law which claims that it bans all forms of child labour till the age of 14. Sadly, the country is buying into an illusion. The truth is that the amendment to the Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Amendment Bill 2016, passed by the Parliament continues to allow children to be employed in family-based enterprises, and secondly, the employment of children in most hazardous occupations like tanning, bangle-making, zari work, carpets, domestic work, e-waste and numerous others that till recently were recognised as hazardous for children will now be permitted. ProChild Coalition, a network of academics, organisations and individuals strongly opposes the Bill in its present form. Through this brief note we would like to raise some important concerns that arise in the wake of this.
Legitimises Child labour
 
The government claims that it has banned all forms of child labour up to the age of 14 years however, with the new Bill it has de-incentivized education by legalizing family-based work. ‘Family’ is defined in the proposed bill as child’s mother, father, brother, sister and father’s sister and brother and mother’s sister and brother. It uses the word ‘help’ to describe the child’s involvement in the family enterprise (after school hours and during vacations). The problem lies in the inclusion of this proviso in the law, especially since we are well aware that the notion of family is very wide and ambiguous in our country. This is exactly the kind of legal loophole that has led to the continuation of child labour till now. Past experience of implementation of the law that had a similar proviso (Section 3 of the CLPRA, 1986) has amply shown that this was the one way in which children were tied to home based work and exploited.
 
Reinforces Caste based occupations
 
Since most family based occupations in India are caste based, the exception in Section 3 in the law, which allows children to work in family occupations, will only keep the caste system intact-like, for a potter's son/daughter to be a potter, a weaver's child to be a weaver, a tanner’s child to be a tanner and so on. In a feudal, caste driven Indian society what do these provisions amount to? Without doubt, this will worst affect the dalit and the marginalised who are at the bottom of the caste hierarchy, a ghastly example of which was the recent beating and humiliation of dalit youths in Gujarat.
 
Child labour over Child Protection?
 
Although all children are banned from working in hazardous occupations, the 16 occupations and 65 processes that were listed as hazardous in the 1986 law has now been replaced in 3 occupations and 29 processes that are in the Factories Act which covers only the organized sector.
 
This reduction in the number of occupations that fall into this category and no provisions in it for an increase in this list, means that children will be employed in domestic work, hotel and dhabas, brick kilns and several other such places that have now come to be recognized as extremely hazardous occupations and fall in the unorganized sector. Although the government’s data claims there is a significant decrease in the number of child labour in the country, in reality the number of children already working in the unorganized are multiplying (for example Census 2011 shows that child labour in urban settings has actually increased- and that is where the unorganized sector is).Besides, every day newer ‘occupations’ are coming up which are hazardous and dangerous. But they will not find a place in the law.
 
No Rights for Poor Children
While the Parliament unanimously passed the Indian Institutes of Technology(Amendment) 2016 to benefit the young wizards of India, the same Parliament, barring MPs from the ruling NDA,expressed surprising empathy for India’s children to oppose the passing of this regressive Bill.
Indeed, this Bill must be seen and analysed in the context of the dilution of labour laws and standards in the country and the move towards greater informalisation of labour and the push towards manufacturing in the unorganised sector. As Mr. Shankar Aggarwal, Secretary Ministry of Labour and Employment is quoted saying “All the amendments are being done keeping in mind three things—need of the times, workers’ protection and creating an environment for more job creation,” ….“Every year, the country needs to create an excess of 10 million jobs and for that manufacturing sector is key. The proposed labour reforms will help the pace of industrialization while keeping workers’ rights intact.”[11]
 
Clearly the main stress of the Ministry is to create jobs to meet the needs for manufacturing, not so much to protect children. In this backdrop, when production is pushed into the homes, who is to regulate the entry of children into the work force? This is nothing but keeping the un-scrutinised and the unregulated informalisation of labour alive, so that corporates can ‘make in India’ without having to deal with the labour unions and the labour laws.
 
It seems the government is in a state of intellectual and policy disarray. While on one hand it talks about Skill India, and Girls’ education, on the other hand by passing this law dilutes the efforts keep their children out of school, as theParliamentary Standing Committee examining the bill had cautioned: "The ministry is itself providing loopholes by inserting this proviso since it would be very difficult to make out whether children are merely helping their parents or are working to supplement the family income. Further, allowing children to work after school is detrimental to their health as rest and recreation is important for their physical and cognitive development."[12]Child labour in India has become so normalised that there is neither shock nor shame – it is a ‘necessary evil’.
It is obvious that the government is happy to put the burden to make ‘Make in India’ a success only on children from poor,dalit, muslim and tribal families but Shouldn’t a country vying for the global high table aim higher for its children?

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