arjun sengupta

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high income, earning above Rs 93 per day.

The government has been telling us that poverty has been declining?

Yes. The numbers in the group earning between Rs 15-20 per day are expanding, but

they still remain abysmally poor.

Have all the schemes introduced to help the poorest of the poor made no

difference at all?

The finance minister has given a lot of money for social development programmes but

these have bypassed the poorest of the poor. Our report (?Report on the Conditions of

Work and Promotion of Livelihoods in the Unorganised Sector?) has stressed all along

that special programmes need to be designed for these people.

To give an example, look at the whole issue of agricultural credit. The government

keeps emphasising how agricultural credit has expanded, but it has not gone towards

helping the marginal farmer. Why shouldn?t the government waive the debts of this

distressed section? It?s not such a huge amount. We are not against reforms, but we

believe that these need to be realigned and redesigned in such a way that 50% of the

agricultural credit first reaches the poorest sector.

Therefore, the report stresses that the whole approach to planning should change. We,

at the Commission, maintain that maximisation of profits should not be the sole aim of

economic growth. Planning has to occupy itself entirely with the improvement of

vulnerable sections of society through social engineering.

Social engineering is always a difficult exercise as it requires planning, coordination,

and redesigning of programmes to make them more efficient and plug leakages. The

normal market mechanism benefits only the middle and higher income groups; for the

rest it is the government?s job to ensure economic development. The government will

have to see that reforms are not reversed, and at the same time, the socially and

economically backward must also be taken on board.

How does one achieve this?

This is the job of the finance minister and the Planning Commission. We have given

some suggestions in our report and, if these are accepted, the government will be

taking a major step forward to help marginalised people, in concrete terms. Of course,

appropriate financial planning will have to be done in order to raise the money for these

vulnerable sections. This will require some amount of tightrope-walking, because we

do not want the macro-economic balance to get upset. But I am confident the finance

minister is in a position to introduce these long-term measures.

Let us not forget that the whole thrust of the economy presently caters to the middle

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and higher income groups that comprise 24% of the population and whose numbers

work out to around 225 million. They possess substantial purchasing power and

therefore do not require state assistance.

Why do you think these social development programmes went awry?

The poor have no voice and even less representation. So they were not targeted orlooked at. When an entire section of society is bypassed, how are they going to lift

themselves out of this morass? For example, if we take the thrust in agriculture or

irrigation, we will find that because there was no centralised monitoring the rich always

benefited from these schemes. Again, the majority of self-employed are in the

unorganised sector, but they have not benefited from industrial progress like skills-

upgradation and improved technology. The Commission, in its report, has given an

agenda on how to reach out to these people. But the most important thing is to provide

them with a livelihood, as many of them have no social security or legal protection.

Statistics show that among these workers, 87% are dalits and members of scheduled

castes/scheduled tribes (SC/STs), 80% belong to other backward classes (OBCs), and

84% are Muslims. Just half per cent of GDP can cover 300 million in the unorganised

sector. The money needs only to be targeted appropriately. This is not to say they do

not have any advantaged sections in this group. Twelve per cent of dalits, 20% of

OBCs and 15% of Muslims are rich.

What can be done now to reverse this social exclusion?

There is a crying need to involve local panchayats in development. The public must be

able to monitor where the money is going, and who is benefiting from it. I also believe

the government must encourage artisan cluster units at the rural level to promote the

rural economy. If Special Economic Zones (SEZs) can be justified for the rich, such

units are more justified for the poor.

Everyone keeps harping on development, but the poor have little voice?

Our job is to ensure that the situation gets reversed. In the past, they may not have

had a voice but they did have a strong individual identity based primarily on their

religion or caste. This identity is easier to comprehend. If the government gets down to

the nitty-gritty details of improving their livelihoods, these people will realise thateconomic development is more important than caste or religion.

There is an impression that the government has ignored both your first and

second reports. Is that correct?

That is not correct. Our Commission has not only identified the unorganised worker but

also analysed his identity. This is the first time that such a detailed report has been

brought out that highlights the conditions of unorganised labour in the country. The



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National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector has also gone into

schemes to promote livelihoods. These are suggestions and can be improved upon

and elaborated, but the basic job was to identify the people.

Is the government going to accept these recommendations?

That is for the government to decide. Some groups support our recommendations,others oppose them. Economics is a political subject. There are groups and lobbies

that are busy fighting one another, so we do see a lot of struggle ahead. But I will say

that, for the first time, we have a government that is committed to the development of

the poor. This is the strength of a democracy.

I cannot also say what the Bill (the Unorganised Sector Workers Social Security Bill,

2007) will do. At present, it is being considered by the Cabinet. We believe that if the

Bill is implemented with some amount of conviction, it can transform the lives of

millions of people. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act also received agreat deal of opposition. But when the government went ahead and adopted the

scheme, it turned out to be quite successful. Voiceless groups will either assert

themselves through fighting for their rights, or else they will pick up the gun and

become Naxalites. The struggle is towards a more inclusive form of economic

development.

InfoChange News & Features, September 2007


arjun sengupta

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