Modi govt presided over 'widespread depredation' of India's workers: Congress

The Hindu

01-05-2025

The Congress on Thursday (May 1, 2025) alleged that the last 11 years have seen the Modi government preside over 'widespread depredation' of India's workers, inflicting injustices such as "declining real wages, anti-worker labour codes and throttling of MGNREGA'.
On International Workers Day, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the path-breaking gig worker welfare measures in Telangana and Karnataka are only the beginning and the Indian National Congress envisions safe and secure employment for all of India's working people.
"The last eleven years have seen the Modi Government preside over the widespread depredation of India's workers, aided and abetted by the Government's own policies," he said in a statement.
Mr. Ramesh said there have been at least five major injustices inflicted upon workers in India over the last decade.
Listing out the injustices, Mr. Ramesh flagged "declining real wages" and pointed out that Labour Bureau data shows that between 2014-15 and 2022-23, real wages of agricultural workers rose by an annual average of only 0.8%, and just 0.2% for non-agricultural workers.
On the occasion of International Workers Day, our statement on @INCIndia's vision for India's workers pic.twitter.com/olKakFYq5X — Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) May 1, 2025
"For construction workers, real wage growth was actually negative. Even salaried workers have not been spared - according to PLFS data, after adjusting for inflation, salaried workers made 12% less in 2022-23 than they did in 2017-18," he said.
Mr. Ramesh also accused the government of bringing in anti-workers labour code and rise in contractualisation.
"The Modi government's four new labour codes of 2019-20 made employment more unstable for all workers. Contractualisation has become rampant, both in the public and private sectors. According to the Annual Survey of Industries, 98.4% of factories employed contract workers in 2019-20, up from 28.3% of factories in 2011," he said.
Flagging the issue of de-industrialisation, Mr. Ramesh said the Modi government has systematically reversed India's economic transformation, sending workers from factories back to farms.
"From 2011-12 to 2022, the total number of workers in manufacturing was stagnant, going from approximately 6 crore to just about 6.3 crore. Since 2018-19, the number of agricultural workers has gone up by 6 crore," he said.
Mr. Ramesh claimed there has been a decline in salaried jobs and increase in self-employment.
"Self-employment rose from 51% in 2017-18 to a shocking 57% in 2022-23, while salaried work fell from 23% to 21%. The number of unpaid workers in the self-employed category has shot up from about 40 million in 2017-18 to 95 million in 2022-23. The mass unemployment crisis has forced workers to move into low-paying or non-paying jobs," he said.
Mr. Ramesh accused the government of "throttling MGNREGA", saying the budget allocation for MGNREGA has been slashed repeatedly and in 2023-24 it was at only 0.25% of GDP - the lowest in its history.
"As a result, the Modi government has suppressed MGNREGA wages. For instance, since 2014, the daily wage rate for Uttar Pradesh has increased just 4% per year, when inflation has been much higher than that," he said.
As part of its Nyay Patra for the Lok Sabha Elections 2024, the Indian National Congress had announced the five-point Shramik Nyay Guarantees, Ramesh pointed out.
Listing the guarantees, he said the Congress has promised a national minimum wage of ₹400 per day, including for MGNREGA workers.
The guarantees include the Right to Health law that will provide universal health coverage of ₹25 lakh, including free essential diagnostics, medicines, treatment, surgery, and rehabilitative and palliative care, Mr. Ramesh said.
The Congress has also guaranteed an employment guarantee act for urban areas, with a focus on building public infrastructure, making cities resilient to climate change, and bridging gaps in social services, he said.
Mr. Ramesh said the Congress has also promised a comprehensive social security for all unorganised workers, including life insurance and accident insurance.
The party has also vowed to carry out a review of the anti-worker labour codes passed by the Modi Government, and a commitment to stop contractualisation of employment in core government functions, he said.
"The Congress Party has stood firm with India's working people since its inception, with Mahatma Gandhi himself guiding the historic Ahmedabad Mill Workers Strike of 1918 and several INC leaders like Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, VV Giri, and Babu Jagjivan Ram being associated with the labour movement," he said.
On the occasion of International Workers Day, the Congress reaffirms its allegiance to India's working people and renews its commitment to the five-point Shramik Nyay Agenda, Mr. Ramesh asserted.