The Hindu Business Line : `GDP-led employment growth has lost relevance'

MORE than changes in labour laws, what India now needs is employment growth, especially since the organised sector has not been able to foster employment growth to the desired extent.

The changing paradigms in industrial relations will increasingly be dictated by the jobless growth that is being witnessed, as the rise in gross domestic product (GDP) is not producing the required jobs.

The accent must be on an effective social security net, if drastic changes in labour laws are attempted.

Participating in an interactive session on `Changing paradigms of industrial relations in Asian countries: Focus China and comparison with Indian laws and practices,' organised by the Bharat Chamber of Commerce here on Thursday , Mr A. M. Chakrabarti, Principal Secretary, Labour Department, Government of West Bengal, said the organised private sector's capacity to generate jobs has now come to nearly zero, and for public sector units (PSUs) it is negative , and the need of the hour seems to be support for the unorganised segment to create more jobs.

He said productivity has to be there, but not at the cost of workers' health, industrial safety and workers' rights. Flaying the GDP-led employment growth, he said it has lost its relevance in the last 15 years or so.

He suggested that contemplation of any sweeping changes in labour practices must be supported by a majority of the labour force, if the stability of the system has to be maintained. The problem has to be tackled at the workers' level, it is pointed out. Drawing a parallel with the capacity of the organised sector in developed countries like the US, Japan and Germany to generate substantial employment through the small and medium enterprises (SMEs), he said the small-scale industry (SSI) potential for employment generation in this country so far has gone virtually untapped.

Calling for a fresh look at the informal/SSI sectors in the balance period of the 10th, 11th and 12th Five Year Plans, as joblessness has now assumed alarming proportions, Mr Charabarti said there is now an urgent need to launch job training programmes for increasing the sagging base of the skilled labour force.

He said while the skilled workforce in developed countries account for 60 per cent of the total workforce, in India it is barely 6-8 per cent, and this issue has to be addressed urgently.Job losses have to be minimised from an international industrial relations (IR) perspective.

He said there is a need to broadly look at the whole world and not just China, as the paradigms have changed because of the labour practices, which have induced better growth and productivity. He added that many loose ends have to be tied up before making changes to Indian labour laws.

The resources-related issues must be discussed and answers must be found to many of the problems pertaining to a social security net.

Earlier, introducing the theme of the workshop, Mr S. S. Chawdhry, IR Standing Committee of the chamber, said the rapidly changing economic scenario has necessitated a change from stability and life time employment to a high degree of functional and numerical flexibility, especially if one were to observe the changes adopted by Asian countries like South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia.