Mohan Bhagwat flags threats to jobs from AI, calls for labour-centric tech policy
'Technology is coming... When new technologies come, they bring many new questions as well. What will happen to unemployment? Will it reduce unemployment, or increase it?' Bhagwat said at an event in Delhi marking 70 years of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), the labour wing affiliated with the RSS.
Stressing that technology 'can't be rejected,' Bhagwat said it should be 'customised' to suit the needs of society and protect the dignity of labour. 'Technology makes mankind's nature a bit harsh and somewhat reduces the respect for labour,' he said.
His remarks come amid growing debate over the role of AI and automation in India's workforce, particularly in the unorganised sector, which employs nearly 90% of the labour force. Bhagwat said the sector needs urgent attention. 'The unorganised sector is vast. Even within the organised sector, there's an unorganised aspect. We need to work for this sector and their self-respect,' he said.
Union Minister for Labour and Employment Mansukh Mandaviya, who also spoke at the event, said trade unions operate differently based on their ideological orientation, but the BMS aligns its work culture with 'the Indian lifestyle.' He said the 'India Model' was presented by a BMS-led delegation at the International Labour Organization (ILO), showcasing how India managed labour welfare during COVID-19.
'We have managed COVID with the India Model and succeeded. Service of mankind is our nature, and that is why India managed the pandemic very well,' Mandaviya said.
Bhagwat used the occasion to reflect on the BMS's growth and called for a new model for labour organisation aligned with evolving global realities. 'We had to operate within the existing system. Times have changed now, and perhaps it's time for us to create a new model based on our ideology and the changing global landscape,' he said.
'They used to say to Thengadi ji, 'Your saffron flag cannot be hoisted in this field.' But after 70 years, we have become a global giant and the No. 1 workers' organisation in the country,' he added.
Bhagwat also flagged concerns about the wider impact of tech-driven transformation. 'Technological transformation is another challenge. Knowledge-based technology needs to be thought about with a new perspective—it can devalue the prestige of shram (labour),' he said.
Calling the 'Udyog Pariwar' concept—a framework that positions workers and employers as part of the same industrial family—a unique contribution by BMS to the labour movement, Bhagwat said many international trade unions are observing its model closely. But he added, 'The objective of 'Workers Unite the World' is still a distant dream.'
'If labourers suffer, society suffers. Working for labourers is our primary inspiration,' he said.
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