Impact of global capitalist crisis on Indian working class

After claiming that the Indian economy is insulated from the global crisis, Manmohan Singh, Montek Singh and other government economists have now been forced to admit that the crisis is having a serious impact on the people of our country, especially the working class.

Exports have sharply fallen. Two consecutive months, October and November 2008, saw fall in exports of 12 and 10 percent respectively, over the corresponding months of the previous year. As per government’s own admission, 10 lakh workers in export oriented industries have been rendered jobless since August; another 5 lakh workers are likely to lose their jobs before 31 Mar 2009.

The government spokesmen are now trying to spread the consolation that the loss of jobs in India is not as sharp as in U.S. and Europe.  Even this is a lie, as the full picture remains hidden from our eyes.

According to a survey carried out by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, at least 5 lakh workers lost their jobs between October and December.  The survey covered registered units in eight major sectors including textiles and garments, metals and metal products, information technology and BPO, automobiles, gems and jewellery, transportation, construction and mining. These sectors employ about 160 lakh workers, which is only about 10 percent of the class of wage and salaried workers in the country.  Majority of workers are not registered; their employment is “off the record”, and so is their loss of jobs.

Job losses are about 5-6 lakhs per month in the United States, or about 15-20 lakhs in one quarter.  In India the quarterly job loss number is over 5 lakhs in just the registered units covered by the survey.  The total including all units in all sectors could very well be more than in the US.

A recent survey by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) found that one third of 96 manufacturing sub-sectors had negative growth during Apr-Dec 2008. Negative growth sectors include fertilizers, steel, polymers, commercial vehicles, textile machinery, etc. Only 22 percent of sub-sectors reported growth of more than 10 percent during Apr-Dec 2008 as against 45 percent of the sub-sectors during Apr-Dec 2007.

Contract workers in manufacturing have been worst hit by the slow-down. They have been the first ones to be fired. Most industries had resorted to higher and higher use of contract workers during the last few years.

Even after 60 years of independence, Government of India has not it found it necessary to compile and publish reliable and timely data on employment and job losses. The official unemployment rate is reported to be just 7 percent.  This does not recognize gross under-employment nor does it cover the so-called unorganized sector, which employs more than 90 percent of wage workers. So the true impact of the crisis on jobs and livelihoods is deliberately hidden from people in our country.

Too few among the workers in our country are protected or insured in any way from sudden loss of job and livelihood.  Too few are even registered as workers. Fighting for universal coverage of registration and protection of workers, including insurance against loss of job, is an immediate challenge facing the Indian working class in the context of the current crisis.