A media hype was created around the Modi led BJP government’s budget 2025-26. It evoked a lot of debates and speculations around the tax concession and rebates but the most important proposal of deregulation of labour and its accompanied announcements in the budget was completely ignored by the media.

The undue importance attached to the question of deregulation was not even taken note of by the corporate media and other onlookers. The economic survey categorically asserted that land, labour, transport and logistics are the areas for deregulation. It says without mincing words that “Indian firms cannot adhere to applicable regulations without hindering growth, investments and job creation. For instance, exporting firms should have the flexibility to deploy more labour hours in months with a surge in orders.”

When Narayanamurthy of Infosys and Subrahmanyan of L&T were proposing 70 – 90 hour work-week, there was a furore everywhere. Even a section of liberal industrial owners were questioning the rationale of productivity behind the proposal. But, now we find that the corporate bosses have only echoed the Modi’s rationale or we may also infer that Modi government has accepted the proposal of the corporate bosses.

The insistence of deregulation of land points to the fact that the government is not content with the announcement of NMP (National Monetisation Pipeline) and privatisation of government owned public enterprises alone but is also proposing to hand over not only the infrastructures but also all the lands to the corporate houses in the name of monetisation. The real implications of land deregulation is yet to be clearly spelt out by the government while it has already been indicated in various ways including amendments to land laws and the policy of privatisation and monetisation.

The multinational companies are allowed to take over the insurance industry wholly by increasing the FDI limit to 100 percent from 74. The insurance industry workers movement has waged numerous struggles against 100 percent ownership for foreign capital in Indian soil. Still, Modi government has turned a deaf ear to their longstanding demand.

The economic survey 2024-25 has revealed the government’s intention and urgency to implement labour reforms in the form of Labour Codes which was kept under backburner for more than four years in spite of legislating them so hurriedly without any proper debate or consultation. They have made it explicit that existing labour laws only hinder growth, investment and job creation thereby accusing the trade union movement responsible for any non-growth or lesser growth.

The union government has made it very clear that the threshold limit of workers strength should be increased to 300 as proposed by Labour Codes from the present 100 for the applicability of labour laws by saying that ‘deregulation is critical for MSME rather than large enterprises as the latter find a way around compliance’. By increasing the threshold limit to 300 for applicability, it is estimated that more than 85 percent of the industries presently under the purview of labour laws will go out of its purview. Modi government is only shedding crocodile tears about MSMEs because they do not really employ even 100 people. It is only the corporates operating under the garb of MSMEs employ more than 100. Hence, the threshold of 300 workers strength is a bonanza for corporate houses and not for any MSMEs.

According to the survey, “The annual unemployment rate for individuals aged 15 years and above has declined from 6% in 2017-18 to 3.2% in 2023-24…. The proportion of self-employed workers increased from 52% in 2017-18 to 58% in 2023-24 reflecting growing entrepreneurial activity and preference for flexible working conditions. However, the share of workers in regular/salaried jobs has decreased from 23% to 22%.” The survey interprets that the abnormal increase in the share of self-employed means the growth in “entrepreneurial” activity. It is a big joke indeed! The so-called entrepreneurial activity in Modi’s parlance is nothing but an employment in selling pakodas. The increase in self-employed means nothing other than an increase in street vendors or similar employments where the people struggle to earn their bread and butter. But the Modi government and Nirmala Sitharaman preach that it means an increase in “entrepreneurial” activity. This is how the Goebbelsian propaganda makes us to believe that the country is advancing. But, unfortunately, they are unable to conceal the fact that the share of regular / salaried jobs has decreased in the same period. The biggest joke is the statement that the increase in self-employment means the decrease in regular jobs which is mainly because of “workers’ preference for flexible working conditions”, in other words, workers preference for self-employment (selling pakoda) against salaried jobs, according to the economic survey!

Hence, it says, “Increasing flexibility in the labour market will create an enabling environment for businesses to grow. India’s labour regulations impose extensive compliance requirements on businesses.” It implies that the business can grow only by throwing the labour at the altar of the super profit. So, make hire and fire the norm, flexible and increased working hours the habit, pay a pittance as wages for the salaried and call it a parity with informal labour – these are the mantra of the BJP government. 

The Inequality in India

The usual rhetoric of eliminating poverty, etc., is completely absent in the budget while it is talking about working poverty indicating meagre or starvation wages for workers. The inequality in India has risen manifold since the implementation of neo-liberal reforms and in spite of the much trumpeted higher growth of the GDP. According to the World Inequality Report 2024, the top 10 percent of the filthy rich in India holds 77 percent of the national wealth in the country, 73 percent of the wealth produced in 2017 went to the richest 1 percent while the wealth of 67 crores of poorest half of the population witnessed only an increase of 1 percent in their wealth.

The number of billionaires in India was only 9 in 2000 which rose to 101 in 2017. The current number of billionaires is 271. The number of new billionaires added in 2023 alone is 94. The report also says that a minimum wage worker in rural India will take at least 941 years to earn what the top paid executive in a garment company earns in a year. The inequality between executives and wage earners increased manifold after the 5th pay commission and direct recruitment for top posts. This is also a reason why we find Murthys and  Subramaniyans everywhere - in the government, private, corporate and Contract structures.

The report which is also co-authored by Thomas Piketty says that the income inequality in the so-called Independent India is much higher than the inequality witnessed in the period of British colonial period. Another important aspect of global inequality is that the nations have become richer since the 1980s, but the governments have become poorer, manifesting the crude reality of neoliberal policy regime.

Modi’s Dream Model of Employment

From the angle of deregulation of labour, the implementation of Labour Codes is the primary tool being perceived by the Modi government. In addition to indiscriminate contractualisation and informalisation in formal industry, Fixed Term Employment, Trainee – Apprentice system, etc., Modi is dreaming of promoting a model of labour relations similar to Gig and platform economy and the same is being pushed as the future work or the future labour relations in the country. To put it more popularly, gig and platform economy is nothing but a slave economy and labour relations being proposed for gig and platform workers is nothing but a relationship of slavery that existed between the slave and the master, well before the evolution of a feudal society.

Even the model of contractual employment is becoming obsolete because contract employees have some minimum rights, at least. They want to replace the system with trainees, apprentices and more importantly with the system of gig workers where the principal employer is unidentifiable.

As of now, most of us are of the impression that gig and platform work is only about delivery workers and Uber, Ola drivers and such transport network which is not true. The gig model is bound to spread to all sectors of economy and labour including construction, house-keeping, sanitation, gardening, etc., blurring formal and informal sector, organised and unorganised sector, etc. The Labour Codes have already removed such employments from the category of core work. Modi claims that the future worker will voluntarily reject any permanent employment because he can make some quick money by engaging in gig economy which is far from the reality. The gig workers are suffering from low income, extended working hours and hard labour to earn such a meagre amount.

Gig workers are not named as workers but are called as partners, executives, short term contractors (not workers), etc., to assert that they have no employer and cannot claim workers’ rights. No minimum wages because they are the workers without employers. They are workers without any permanent work place. They are workers without any definite time of work. It is a freelance work on a short term contract.  To be precise, gig work is designed to make workers vagabonds with unstable income, without time and space and with uncertain future. This is the future model of employment being perceived by Modi led BJP government to serve the corporates. The companies design virtual platforms to engage workers for all professions and trades including building work and are relieved of any responsibility towards its own workforce.

Workers of this nature, as of now, is counted as 70 lakhs and is expected to grow to the tune of several crores in 2030 and is perceived to be the dominant form of labour relations in a decade or so. With this kind of employment model, Modi is not only planning to eliminate the rights of workers and trade union movement in the country but also to eliminate any stable life and livelihood for workers as a class.

But, the workers movement has always reinvented itself against all forms of repression and strategies of the ruling class. Trade union movement is not only about some economic demands but also about the rights and dignity of the working class. Throwing some peanuts to workers in a future world of work alone may not be sufficient because the history of human struggle has always displayed that workers and toilers have uncompromisingly fought for their rights and dignity. They have risen against all forms of subjugation, dominance and slavery. The workers and the working class movement will not rest until the fascists are thrown out of power and see the dawn of an egalitarian and democratic society.