In India, we have seen that there have been two clear modes of thought in regards to how India should be governed. The Communist Party of India proposes a platform based on creating a welfare state in India with a collectivized economy while the Bharatiya Janata Party proposes a platform of economic liberalization and sweeping programs to tackle unemployment using that. The purposes of this article are to therefore compare and contrast this, examine the history of unemployment in India and recognize where we are now.
Indian Unemployment: A Tale of Two Sides
Throughout the years, we have seen that India has an unemployment rate which nationally hovers around 2.5%. This accounts for millions of Indians who are out of work and who are not being employed in meaningful work. In hard hit communities like Tripura and Nagaland, this leaves a devastating effect on the community and the regional economy and leaves behind millions of Indians from achieving good wages or providing for their families.
As figure 1 shows, the unemployment rate in India saw major decreases up until 2008 and steadily rose back up until 2013 where it began to fall and a pattern of a major fall manifested in 2016. With all current predictions, the unemployment rate will continue to fall though not by much going into the 2019 year cycle.
If we examine the history behind those numbers, we see a clear pattern emerging behind it all.
Congress went into 2004 with a candidate who promised sweeping economic liberalization and reform on the lines of P. V. Narasimha Rao. As we can see, Unemployment went down under such programs and India began to succeed. Some of this can also be attributed to schemes such as the Highways projects tarted by the previous BJP Government which boosted productivity.
When the INC then began to adopt a model more dedicated towards forming a welfare state, an experiment which has failed since the foundation of India under every INC Government which attempted it, we saw unemployment rise and the financial situation in India began to plummet. We had the chance to grow out of the financial crisis globally and continue India’s track of good progress but the INC squandered their chances and failed Indians there.
Finally, Modi and the BJP came back into power and we can see clearly that unemployment began a steady trend downwards and we can see the effects of employment sweep the streets of India. Modi and the BJP’s unique connection to the working class of India is a factor commonly attributed to their success in this field alongside the continuation of the BJP platform of economic efficiency and economic growth.
Will the Welfare State Succeed on a State Level?
On a state level, a similar scene is painted but seemingly with an even more damming record for the Communist policies which the CPI wishes to implement.
In the state of Tripura, there is a history of rule by the left-front and they have commonly found themselves being run by the INC and the CPI at times when the INC and Left-Front were in positions of power in wider India. From there, that history and those pledges to fix unemployment have actually shown incredibly negative results as the unemployment rate in Tripura remains the highest in India. The only attributing factors of recent falls in unemployment according to expert economists specializing in labour come from the implementation of the Highways program, started in 1999 by a BJP Government, to fix and build new infrastructure in the state alongside recent sweeping anti-corruption measures being taken by the Chief Minister and the Government in place currently in Tripura.
In a state which has seen a large portion of direct intervention and policy implemented by Communist parties in India, Kerala has the third highest unemployment among all the states of India. Communist policies which were implemented throughout Kerala didn’t end up delivering many of the results which were pledged. This is one of the states where the most practical application of Indian Communist policies came into effect and there have been scathing criticisms and data showing a underwhelming effect of Communist policies.
This compares to states like Meghalaya, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh which have engaged in policies of economic liberalization and have some of the lowest unemployment rates throughout all of India.
Conclusion
The conclusion many of our own experts and many of the experts we have contacted in the field shows a clear pattern that Communist policies have not had the same effect as economic liberalization when it comes to tackling unemployment. This means that the CPI will need to introduce some more concrete policies and serious reform if they wish to win over any voters on the key issue of unemployment.
OP-ED: The Communist Party of India which has seen a major resurgence has proven a commitment towards one of the most destructive policies to the people of India to ever be unleashed. The Communists have pledged a program which will fundamentally shift India for the negative and Republic TV is glad to denounce the policies which they are promising which continue a failed Communist state model which has led to tyranny and oppression.
Goal One
“Every town in India shall be governed by workers’ and soldiers’ councils elected from and by the local population in free and open elections. These councils will have power over all matters that can reasonably be put under their jurisdiction, and the national parliament will take precedent only on issues which cannot or should not be governed by local councils (to be defined in legislation) e.g. LGBT+ issues or national industry.”
This proposal starts out with the good intention of empowering local institutions. However, it quickly shifts as they state they want to form councils of workers and soldiers. They do not want to organize anything by any real local population, only by those who work and those who serve in their enforcement gangs. There are major issues in how this is managed, keeping the soldiers independent will lead to councils of soldiers deciding to enforce tyranny over the workers as those with weapons and training will seek to enforce tyranny. Furthermore, this goes against the BJP image of the country where there are clear areas of national interest which need to be dealt with nationally. Local corruption continues to rise in India and BJP programs tackle that corruption, the CPI plan moves to let that local corruption and nepotism take over India on the basest level of government and have no place for the National Government in preventing such corruption.
Goal Two
“The police force is to be disbanded, and local workers’ militias shall take their place each governed by their respective local soldiers’ council.”
The Communist Party has a program to disband our police force completely and give that authority to quite literally militias. We have seen waves of sectarian violence throughout our nation and we have seen the violence spill into the streets led by the people forming their own militias. The CPI wants to completely get rid of the police forces role our communities, particularly in regional areas where they are the only thing preventing large scale mob rule. The CPI therefore will dis-empower our nation and let militias either run amok or impose martial law for their policies to succeed in India. The looting alone will probably drive communities to complete chaos which ties into the next policy position.
Goal Three
“All mines, factories, large companies, and large estates of land are to be nationalised and brought under control of local workers’ councils. In the event an industry is too large to be controlled at the local level, and only under this circumstance, the national government may control it.”
This policy will single-handedly destroy the entire factory industry and halt the expansion of industry in this country. Throughout our history, efforts to nationalize and control industry has led to wide-spread unemployment and the bankruptcy of India over the years. Policies of land nationalization in communist controlled states led to mismanagement and led to the economies of Kerala falling behind in many areas of agriculture. In areas of employment, the expansion of enterprise is disincentivized as the costs on councils would be far too high and the available capital will damage their capabilities. This would come with each individual council having to trade and organize like a corporation to keep the supply chain running and keep the services of their industry alive. For areas where low economic output but good job opportunities are the case, those industries could collapse as the expense isn’t as justified as part of a larger scheme. All work under such a policy therefore becomes stuck at a level of low-quality employment if any is available at all. The BJP program has provisions in comparison according to those familiar with the party policies to uplift high quality employment and continue programs of economic liberalization which has been proven to raise employment (Source: Unemployment in our India by Republic TV)
Goal Four
“All people shall have the right to freedom of speech and all other civil and personal freedoms provided that these freedoms or the practice of exercising them does not bring harm to another (to be defined by democratic process).”
This freedom is a good freedom in principle and is a freedom supported by many other opposition parties as well. However, the enforcement of these freedoms and these privileges on the local level is something which cannot be guaranteed especially with the police force being disbanded. This means that these freedoms are unenforceable except by martial law imposed by the Government, which invites the upmost tyranny as seen when martial law has been upholded in dictatorships throughout the world.
Goal Five
“All working people are entitled to welfare benefits provided by local councils and the national government where appropriate”
This is a scheme which is already largely provided for by state and local Governments and in some degrees, the national government. There is no firm commitment except to entitle those to welfare benefits. However, under the proposed system of governance by those in the CPI, we’d be seeing underfunded councils with all economic activity and costs lumped on them furthermore be made to provide welfare services and additional costs. With schemes proposed later, there is no long term wealth building schemes and the entire system is prone to being created with an image that the tax system will be marginal but all the costs will be lumped onto the local councils including the costs of managing every single industry, business and grouping in their local area.
Goal Six
“All working people to have the right to join trade unions”
Already established under Indian law as every worker should have that right to join a trade union on a voluntary basis. This is something guaranteed by the BJP, the INC and the IUML respectively.
Goal Seven
“Private property to be abolished and only personal property to remain. In the case where an individual owns excess property on top of personal, it shall be taken under the control of the local councils only until it can be redistributed or made public. The central government must not take control of housing.”
Again, alongside the provisions of the CPI to nationalize all companies, they have brought forward a radical perspective here. Firstly, the abolition of private property means the abolition of all forms of commercial housing, potentially residential housing, all investments made by individuals and all wealth made by someones hard work. That will be seized and redistributed by force at the hands of the local councils and will take away years of hard work by those who have trained and studied for their positions and instead give it to others who are not deserving as their work output is not the same. They have not earned it and this disincentives earned wages and salaries beyond what is needed to survive which lowers the entire economic situation for everyone in a redistribution-based economy. However, the provision that central Government will not take control of housing also comes with the provision that they will not take control of the Housing market. We cannot expect local Government to finance many of the large scale infrastructure projects which the Government could just as we cannot expect the councils to manage housing. In the aim of building more housing, skilled labour would be encouraged to leave India as earnings are redistributed and quality will diminish let alone if the construction of housing is even possible on that local level beyond small scale projects.
Goal Eight
“India’s tax system must be a progressive and marginal system”
The progressive tax system is a good system idea to hold and is something many major parties are willing to support to aid in combating wealth inequality while having a fair tax system. However, the commitment to keep it marginal seems nearly impossible with the massive spending mandates which they force upon local councils and upon areas. If a local council is authorized to collect taxes to pay for infrastructure, housing, education, healthcare, the management and maintenance of every single industry in the area among others, the tax rate is likely to be high on the average Indian. Furthermore,with the abolition of private property there will be no higher tax brackets to even tax.
Goal Nine
“Inheritance to be abolished, and money from inheritance to be distributed based on the need of and population under control of local councils.”
With their aim of tackling “rich Indians”, the CPI has targeted all inheritance. From the get go, the CPI wants everyone to start from the same equal footing except on the field of education and whether your family could afford education (or if the Government will provide it for free which will further increases the taxes imposed). Considering the vast majority of inheritance comes from the average, everyday Indian passing on their wealth and their legacy to their children, using this broadstroke policy is clearly wrong. Furthermore, for those who do not have the training or expertise, particularly minors, this system will leave them with nothing to live off and would require the state to look after them. The history of state care in India is one of abuse, neglect and scorn and it has always been worse on a local level.
Goal Ten
“All education shall be provided for free and controlled democratically by the public.”
This means that the Government will continue to raise taxes to finance education while handing it over democratically to the public. This would require creating large scale school boards like the current system of education and will encourage cost-saving measures all throughout every level of education. With the massive brain drain which is likely to occur as better jobs, pensions and other schemes are offered in other countries, this program will be imposing a massive additional cost on households from taxes while compromising the ability of Universities and other higher education to spend as their ability to raise funds diminishes.
Goal Eleven
“The means of transport (including rail, bus, air, etc) shall be brought under the control of either the relevant local council or the national government.”
More Government costs, no way for it to be paid for except their taxation scheme. The means of transportation being controlled under such an arrangement would also mean that the need for real commercial rail to be shut down except on the basis of need from the councils to operate. For factories in Bihar which produce goods which are shipped down to the markets in Mumbai via plenty of transportation means, there is no incentive anymore as that cost is financed fully by that council for no real profit or gain.
Goal Twelve
“The means of communication (broadband, television coverage, phone lines, etc) shall be brought under the control of either the relevant local council or the national government.”
Only state owned media will be the future under the CPI Government seemingly, with the potential for opposition voices only being possible by councils allying together to form a broadcasting network. However, considering that most industry will now no longer be profitable and all economic output could be stifled, there is potential for such a policy to be pointless and never grow. For areas like Jharkhand which faces issues with broadband coverage, what is the incentive for a local council to invest where they don’t live? Where will be the incentive of a Government which faces major issues of under-funding under the CPI regime to finance that project either? There will be no growth under policies of nationalization, only stagnation.
Goal Thirteen
“It shall be illegal as a constitutional matter for children to be subject to labour.”
I believe every party can agree on this and that is why the BJP Manifesto and other parties policy commitments has a section dedicated fully to tackling issues of unethical employment.
Goal Fourteen
“All credit shall be a matter for the central government, and handled by a national bank.”
Considering that all industry is nationalized and all private property is seized and redistributed, the number one sources of credit demand are instantly extinguished. As the demand of mortgages fall as low-paying labour becomes the norm and the means of housing are owned by the state, the accreditation of the banks will become irrelevant. Therefore this policy is pointless as credit has become unneeded under this proposal by the CPI.
Goal Fifteen
“Nobody should ever face discrimination based on their religion, race, ethnicity, skin-colour, gender identity, sex, or sexuality. Those who wish to discriminate against anybody based on these factors shall be opposed. “
Absolutely agree and many parties in India have made a similar commitment. The founders of India (whom the earliest Indian Communists opposed) intended for our nation to be a nation where all are equal under the law. Policies proposed by other parties such as the BJP are that to fulfill such an obligation, there is a need for one united Indian civil code and for one united Indian legal system to exist.
Goal Sixteen
“The national government shall only exist to legislate on and take control of issues which cannot be controlled by local councils. This is to be defined by precedent and legislation, but may include such matters as national defense (organisation of militias in times where they are necessary, coordination of the navy, etc) that cannot be controlled locally. “
Defining areas where the national Government can step in on precedent leaves it open to interpretation. Either we will see a Government not step up at all to defend the rights of our constitution of India or they will have matters where large scale issues will occur. The industries of business, the continued international trade and other programs will need to be managed by Government on some grounds. Local councils cannot be held responsible for the maintenance of factories as costs will be too high.
Goal Seventeen
“Any legislation passed by the national government which may affect local governments must be approved by a majority of all local councils.”
Literally any matter in India will affect local Government, that is the nature of legislation on a broad national Parliament. What this is really doing is requiring a bill to not only pass the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha which has already faced complaints of being a long and complicated affair but it will also need to face voting before councils for them to reach a majority. Considering the election of peoples and states representatives in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, you’d think this step would be unnecessary. Furthermore, in a field such as homosexual law reform and others it is far more likely for the local councils to vehemently deny such legislation as a body.
Conclusion
The CPI poses one of the greatest unique threats to the provisions set out under our Constitution and the modern India which we all enjoy. This is an attempt at the creation of the Indian welfare state which previous Governments since 1947 have tried and failed to do. This will be abolishing the rights of Indians left, right and center and will be some of the most radical shifts away from the economic boons provided for since the 1990s under programs of economic liberalization. The CPI is a body of young and inexperienced legislators on their own admission and therefore must be opposed by all Indians vehmently.
This goals and aims does not even reflect many of their other policies and standpoints. They have turned away from the previous Communist thinkers of India, even those with genuine passion and good perspectives. They have stated that they wish to free Kashmir and their co-leader and national executive have engaged in a fundamentally anti-Indian practice by publicly proclaiming that they wish to divide India. Therefore and on behalf of all Indians at this time, I urge every single Indian consider a vote for the CPI properly. Will this radical policy help India? Is there any proof it will help India? Rather than promising broad sweeping changes, would you support small scale targeted solutions to India’s problems? I can assure you most definitely that other parties exist which can fufill that function better than the CPI can do.
Republic TV 