Evidence of “inclusiveness” in the story of India's economic growth remains “mixed” said Planning Commission member Abhijit Sen on Friday.
Addressing the fifty-second annual conference of the Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), Prof. Sen remarked, “Our standing in the international community is mainly because of growth, rather than ‘inclusiveness'.”
The three-day event, conducted jointly by ISLE and the Department of Economics, Karnatak University, has attracted more than 400 delegates, including participants from Brazil, South Africa, Bangladesh, Russia, China and Nepal. The conference will deliberate upon three themes mainly: planning for full employment, labour migration and the emerging patterns of employment relations.
Delivering a special lecture in honour of the late Radhakamal Mukerjee, V.K. Ramachandran, Professor, Social Science Division, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, urged young scholars to conduct field surveys to understand better “the agrarian question, which remains the most important national, political and social question of our times.”
Speaking on the theme of ‘Agrarian relations and field studies,' Prof. Ramachandran debunked the widespread notion of a “homogenous village community” and said “the Indian village is a swamp of inequity.”
Drawing on intensive field surveys conducted across the country by his team in the last few years, Prof. Ramachandran said “the extent of the proletarianisation of the Indian peasantry is far greater than what is revealed by official data sources.” Official data also grossly underestimate the extent of tenancy in the Indian countryside, he added. The dismantling of institutional structures of credit has facilitated the spread of microfinance agencies, which charge interest rates ranging from 34-57 per cent, according to the village surveys, Prof. Ramachandran said.
Jobless growth
Jayati Ghosh, Chairperson, Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, speaking on the subject of planning for full employment, said the last decade had been one of “jobless growth,” which has resulted in stagnant growth of the informal sector, stagnant wages and stagnant output in the organised sector. “The promise that an opening up of the economy would result in greater absorption of labour has just not happened.” The “obsession” with exports had not paid off. The excessive speculation in commodity markets has had an impact on foodgrain prices, she said.
Speaking at a session devoted to employment trends in Karnataka, Chaya K. Degaonkar, Chairperson, Department of Economics, Gulbarga University, said although Karnataka had performed better than most other States in terms of human development indicators, “regional imbalances remain a major worry.” Agriculture remains the main source of employment in the northern districts of the State, she observed.
