Modi's India is more unequal than ever

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CADTM South Asia Annual Meeting

Modi’s India is more unequal than ever

23 February 2024 by Sushovan Dhar , Maxime Perriot , CADTM South Asia

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At the CADTM South Asia annual meeting in Kathmandu on February 13 and 14, 2024, Sushovan Dhar took stock of the political, economic, and social situation in India and the challenges facing social movements in a country led by Narendra Modi, one of the world’s leading far-right leaders. His party, the BJP, is widely favoured just a few months before the elections.

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Abysmal inequalities

While India, the world’s most populous country, has one of the highest growth rates in the world and ranks among the five largest economies in the world, inequalities have never been so high since the colonial period. For example, while India is energy self-sufficient, 30% of its population has no access to electricity. Inflation Inflation The cumulated rise of prices as a whole (e.g. a rise in the price of petroleum, eventually leading to a rise in salaries, then to the rise of other prices, etc.). Inflation implies a fall in the value of money since, as time goes by, larger sums are required to purchase particular items. This is the reason why corporate-driven policies seek to keep inflation down. is also reaching exceptional levels.

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Workers face mass unemployment, particularly in rural areas. They have no choice but to migrate to the big cities, where they fill the already overcrowded shanty towns. In the cities, they then join the informal sector, which accounts for over 93% of the Indian workforce. Some of the workers in this informal sector are day labourers who gather in one place at 6 o’clock in the morning to try and sell out their labour for the day. And there are no guarantees Guarantees Acts that provide a creditor with security in complement to the debtor’s commitment. A distinction is made between real guarantees (lien, pledge, mortgage, prior charge) and personal guarantees (surety, aval, letter of intent, independent guarantee). that they will be able to find work every day. Many women are in this situation.

The issue of private debt is also very important. Private debt is a real time bomb, with a very high level of indebtedness for people and companies, which has seen many defaults since 2012. Several states in India are also overindebted. In the last decade, there has been an increasing trend towards centralization, violating the federal provisions of the Indian Constitution.

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The challenges facing trade unions and social movements

Sushovan Dhar summed up the next major challenges facing trade unions and social movements, particularly on the issue of workers’ rights:

The minimum wage must be increased, and its method of calculation must be done scientifically based on the provisions laid by the 15^th Indian Labour Congress and several relevant Supreme Court judgements.
Social security. With more than nine out of ten workers in the informal sector, only a small proportion of workers are covered by social security provisions.
Workplace accidents. Safety at work is a key issue. Around 200 Indian workers die every day in the workplace.
The right to organise. Before the new Indian Labour Code adopted under Modi, 10% of workers were required to form a union. Today, one in two workers is required. This makes it virtually impossible to set up a union.
The new Labour Codes also severely restricts the right to strike.
Working conditions for farmers. These are deplorable and are driving many farmers to suicide, mainly because of over-indebtedness.
Cities. Cities crystallise the inequalities of Indian society. The rich live barricaded around increasingly populated and widespread shanty towns.
Freedom of the press, which is under attack from Modi’s government, must also be the focus of social movements.