‘Not only jobs are not being generated, but people are also losing jobs.’
It is the time of the year when major discussions are centred around the Budget to be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday, February 1.
Before presenting the Budget, the finance minister meets representatives from different sections of society to listen to their suggestions on what could be included in the Finance Bill. Whether the ministry listens to the suggestions is another matter.
On January 6, 2025, representatives from trade unions met the finance minister. Among them was Swadesh Dev Roye, all-India secretary of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, an affiliate of the Communist Party of India-Marxist.
“It is not just jobless growth, it is job-loss growth also,” Dev Roye tells Rediff.com‘s Shobha Warrier.
The concluding segment of a two-part interview:
The profit of the private sector is a 15-year high, but wages are stagnant. Will this not lead to more inequality?
The Inequality Report said that 1% of the population owns 40.5% of the total wealth of the country…
It is well-known that inequality is rising in the country.
That’s why we are asking for wealth tax.
When you earn huge profits, you should pay more tax.
The lowest tax-GDP ratio in the world is in India. It is only 13%.
That’s why we said in the memorandum that the super-rich should be taxed more so that the economy can grow.
They say private investment is not happening because people are not buying. But their profits are going up and up.
Where is the profit coming from?
It is not a profit out of trade; it is a profit out of the government donation to the private sector in the name of incentive fund transfer.
Unemployment is a big issue now. Though the government says there is job creation, experts say, it is a jobless growth…
It is not just jobless growth, it is job-loss growth also.
Not only jobs are not being generated, but people are also losing jobs.
In the 1980s, in the public sector, the total number people employed was 21 lakhs. Today, it is only 8 lakhs. From 21 lakhs, it has gone down to 8 lakhs, let alone creating new generation of employment.
Today, people are ready to take up any job, even a low-paid job. That’s why purchasing power has gone down.
IMAGE: Asha health workers and Mamta health workers protest in Patna, December 30, 2024, demanding higher wages and permanent jobs. Photograph: ANI Photo
Some people say the problem the country faces is not unemployment but under employment. Do you think so?
Yes, it is under employment.
They accept any job because there is no job in the market.
It is like, if there is no quality product in the product and only under quality product is available, you are forced to buy the under-quality product.
IMAGE: Qualified teachers protest in Bhopal, December 23, 2024, demanding appointment letters for jobs in the state government service. Photograph: ANI Photo
You mentioned the MSME sector also in the memorandum. Those in the sector say that they have not yet been able to recover from the shock demonetisation gave them…
The MSME sector is the most labour-intensive sector in the economy.
The high-profile technology driven industry does not generate many jobs.
From that point of view, the MSME sector is very important for our economy.
But today’s government promotes crony capitalism. 4-5 industrialists of this country have captured all the resources of this country.
What you see is the monopolisation of the economy.
IMAGE: Swadesh Dev Roye. Photograph: Kind courtesy Swadesh Dev Roye
Would you call this government and the governments before that, anti-labour and pro-capitalist?
Absolutely. It is not just pro-capitalism but monopoly capitalism.
What you see is crony capitalism. Only a handful of capitalists are getting all the concessions and support from the government, at the cost of people and the working class.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
