Part of: GS Prelims and GS – II – Internationa relations; & GS- III – Economy
In news
The UK Supreme Court ruled that Uber drivers were to be considered workers and not freelance contractors.
This order shall make them eligible for all employment related benefits such as minimum wage, annual leaves, and insurance.
Key takeaways
With this ruling, Uber and other service providing platforms could also potentially face legal and regulatory challenges in India.
Besides, Indian budget 2021-22 has mandated that the law on minimum wages would now apply to workers of all categories including those associated with platforms such as Uber.
Such workers would now be covered by the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC).
Important value additions
In November 2020, the government had come out with specific norms for apps such as Uber and Ola.
Under them, these apps could charge a maximum of 20% commission per ride from driver partners, while also capping the total number of working hours per day at 12.
Maximum fare is also provided that these platforms could charge customers even during high demand peak hours.
They would have to provide drivers with insurance.
Do you know?
A gig economy is a free market system in which temporary positions are common and organizations hire independent workers for short-term commitments.
Indian President recently addressed ‘Shri Guru Ravidas Vishva Mahapeeth Rashtriya Adhiveshan’ in New Delhi.
Important value additions
He was a Dalit-poet saint.
He belonged to the Bhakti movement era.
He probably lived during the 14th to 16th century.
He belonged to a leather-working Chamar community.
The 41 hymns of Guru Ravidas have been included in the Guru Granth Sahib.
The famous saint poetess, Mirabai was a disciple of Guru Ravidas.
His teachings
Everybody is equal in all respects, irrespective of caste, color or a belief in any form of God; Emphasised on universal brotherhood and tolerance.
God created man and not man created God;
He abandoned saguna (with attributes, image) forms of supreme beings, and focussed on the nirguna (without attributes, abstract) form of supreme beings.
Context: Three months before elections to the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), the state’s royal scion and former state Congress president Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma has given a call for a ‘Greater Tipraland’ (through his organisation TIPRA) , covering Tripuris in and outside of the district council and even the Tripuri diaspora.
Map: showing Autonomous Administrative Councils in North East India
What is the demand for Greater Tipraland?
Greater Tipraland’ has been a political demand on the lines of ‘Greater Nagalim’
It seeks to – in a democratic manner – cater to the aspirations of Tripuris in Mamit of Mizoram, Kachar and Hailakandi in Assam, and even in Khagrachari, Bandarban, and Chittagong of Bangladesh.
Tripuris are 19 indigenous clans, most of whom live in the TTAADC areas which make up two-thirds of the state’s geographical area but comprise only one-third of the state’s population of 37 lakh people. 70 percent land under the TTAADC is covered by hills and forests and most inhabitants are prone to ‘jhum’ (slash and burn) cultivation.
What are ‘Tipraland’ and ‘Greater Tipraland’?
‘Tipraland’ was a demand of the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), which is now in power in Tripura in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party. It was a political call for the creation of a separate state for indigenous groups.
Greater Tipraland demands that every indigenous area or village which is today outside the TTAADC be included
Pradyut Kishore who is now spearheading the demand for Greater Tipraland has claimed the demand arose due to unfulfilled demands of revising NRC in Tripura and opposition to CAA in the past.
Critical Analysis of the issue:
Vote Bank Politics: In the wake of impending elections to TTAADC, this is seen an effort by Pradyot to consolidate the tribal vote bank for his party, Tipraha Indigenous Peoples Regional Alliance (TIPRA).
Changed Political Scenario: With Pradyot’s new political maneuvering, TIPRA has emerged as the single-largest tribal political party of Tripura. The royal scion has announced a mega merger and alliance with all major tribal political parties.This may alter the power balance in State (dominated by CPIM and ruling BJP-IPFT govt.)
New-age ethnic politics: Tripura saw turbulent violent struggles by different outlawed insurgent outfits for past three decades- all demanding self-determination and sovereignty on different community lines. This new demand is to unite people from both tribal and non-tribal behind ethnic identity.
Challenge to Federal Spirit: Eventhough thedemand for Greater Tipraland is on democratic lines, such ethnicity based redrawing of boundaries will hamper the delicate balance in North East. It may also further embolden the demand of Nagas thus putting the entire region under contestations.
Impacts Relations with Bangladesh: With the passage of 100th Constitutional Amendment Act of 2015, the land boundary between India and Bangladesh has been settled. However, such demands that includes areas falling in Bangladesh will negatively impact the cooperative bilateral relationship between both countries.
Can create Insurgency: This being a political sensitive issue where ethnicity, development and federalism are involved, Union government has to watch closely the developments & engage with stakeholders to address their grievances. If left unattended the pent up grievances can turn into insurgency in long run.
Way Ahead
Even though at this stage, the demand appears to be aimed at consolidating vote bank for the Council elections, Governments (both Union and State) should not take light of these developments.
Connecting the dots:
Bru Refugees Agreement and the role of Pradyut Kishore: Click here
ECONOMY/ GOVERNANCE
Topic:
GS-3: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment
Context: Twitter trend whereby government was asked to provide jobs for unemployed youth of our Country.
Just before the Covid crisis at the end of 2019-20 financial year, India had around 403.5 million employed people and around 35 million (or 3.5 crore) openly unemployed people (those who are seeking work and not finding it) in the country.
Issues
Addition of Job Seekers Every Year: Given India’s population growth, each year there are close to 20 million (or 2 crore) people who enter the working-age population of 15 to 59 years.
Recovery Post Pandemic: As of January 2021, India had only about 400 million employed (pre-COVID it was 403.5 million). At one level this is good news because far more had lost jobs and many seem to have regained employment as the economy has started recovering.
Steady Decline in number of Employed People: As per CMIE data since 2016, the total number of employed people in India has been steadily coming down. It was 407.3 million in 2016-17 and then fell to 405.9 million in 2017-18, and to 400.9 million at the end of 2018-19.
Unemployment has larger Impact on Society: Each unemployed person is part of a larger family — implying millions of families suffering from the lack of employment opportunities.
Falling Labour Force Participation rate: Even though people have skills they may not be in position to enter labour market for variety of reasons. For instance, if law and order is poor or if cultural mores can prevent women to seek work. Also, men can give up looking for work after repeated failed attempts. As a result, India’s labour force participation rate (LFPR) falls. India’s LFPR is about 40% (in most developed countries it is 60%)
Jobless Growth: Typically, fast economic growth takes care of unemployment worries. However, due to distorted economic structure (service led growth) India’s growth has not translated into jobs. What was required is labour intensive manufacturing led growth providing jobs for millions
Technological Advancement & Unemployment:The GDP can continue to go up as more and more companies become more productive by replacing labour with capital (machinery) but that will only deepen India’s unemployment problem.
Criticism of Government’s role in Creating Jobs: The mantra of “minimum government” espoused in Union Budget for 2021-22 essentially undercuts the government’s role in directly creating new jobs. While on paper this makes sense, the timing is questionable. That’s because the Indian economy is quite weak and the private sector has already shown its preference by choosing to cut jobs and boost its profits
Conclusion
Typically, fast economic growth takes care of unemployment worries. However, in India’s case, one cannot assume that.
Connecting the dots:
Historic Recession: On India’s GDP slump: Click Here
