The conclusion of the 16th Loksabha Election, was aptly termed as the ‘Rockefeller Moment’ for Corporate-India. The real economic power-shift towards ‘Crony-Capitalists’ or Oligarchs, gave rise to the damned reality that the real stream of power started flowing from the Corporate-Club 2.0.
The way, Seeta in Ramayana was hijacked by demon Ravana, the same way, democracy’ was hijacked by ‘Crony Corporate-Demons’ and had replaced ‘Corporatalism’ with ‘Corporate-Terrorism’, where the outcry of millions and billions of hearts, went unheard! Thus, the “fusion of corporates with governance” has led to ‘fascism’ in India, obliterating the mechanism of democracy!
The Contract-Labour System, which finds its roots in this power-shift, has created gold-mine for the entire political apparatus, by allowing them to grab lucrative labour-contracts on one hand and on the other hand, the ‘virus’ of ‘contract-labour system’ has given birth to a pathological condition called ‘Industrial-Silence’, across the industrial map of India… A ‘silence’ to be found in graveyards, never to be mistaken for the welcome ‘peace’, one finds in a temple, buddha-vihar, church, gurudwara or mosque.
Flexible or cheap-labour like ‘contract-labour’ are being ceaselessly used like ’tissue papers’ (‘use & throw’ policy) and are getting exploited rampantly day in and out, as they have been completely ‘silenced’!
‘Contract- labour system’ and it’s criminal extension through ‘OutSourcing’ has helped the corporate-world to keep wages at abysmally low levels and instil a sense of ‘instability and insecurity’ among the ranks and files of working-class.
Through the opening of the Pandora’s box of ‘contract-labour system’, new form of ‘slavery’ and ‘neo-untouchability’ got unleashed. Major chunk of the working-class was forcibly pushed to the periphery of the development-process, sans ‘social-engineering’, which rather than being ‘inclusive’ has become ‘intrusive’ on human basic rights and the nature, at large. It is a perfect process of ‘socio-economic participatory exclusion’ of the masses and equally hazardous for the environment, at the same time. Hence, this ‘law of the jungle’ has been aptly termed by Nobel laureate Amartya Sen as “India is islands of California, in a sea of Sub-Saharan Africa!”
In a way, we were drawn into the vortex of the dangerous game of working on ‘human weakness’, rather than on ‘human strength’, which as a thumb rule, is most easy to play; but, most explosive to sustain. The clock of the human civilisation was thus, made to turn 180° in the opposite direction and the ‘law of jungle’, where ‘might is right’ has prevailed! As a sequel to the ‘law of the jungle’, the ‘coalition’ of ‘smart and connected’ people has gained the earth; whereas, the weaker and scattered have been pushed to the wall.
All this has allowed corporates to compete with each other in terms of exploiting employees to the ultimate extent…the more they do so, more their inefficiencies, insatiable greed and corrupt practices remain hidden under it. It is an ironclad truth that these days, it is hard to find ‘price wars’ in the open-market competition, There is always a tacit understanding amongst the competing corporates, regarding this…the real time competition happens only on the fronts of ‘exploitative measures’ and ‘marketing gimmicks’. On the exploitative front, ‘Contract-Labour System and OutSourcing’ are the most devilish and all pervasive, newfound tools, in the hands of corporate-sharks. Criminal conspiracy between the corporates, all party politicians, judiciary, and the local labour-department officials (ensuring complete fudging of the records of the contract-labour, engaged in the production or service sectors, in blatant violation of the contract-labour abolition and regulation act), is an all round regular phenomenon…
Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP), ingrained in our constitution, laying stress particularly, on promotion and protection of economic interests of the downtrodden, have been heavily compromised through criminal-conspiracy between political and capitalist domain of our country. Corrosive effects of malevolent and ominous corporate-influence on public policy, political-processes and especially, on the environment are glaringly open to anybody’s scrutiny, who is still left with some remnants of sensitivity.
Not only the working-class belonging to this generation, but the future generations, are also put to severest of risks and the carcinogenic effect of this exploitative-technique, has eventually spread its tentacles, beyond ‘blue collar’ to the ‘white collar’ employees…the long term implications of which are portentous for India, if not for the world.
Inequality is sharply rising since 2014. As per the recent Oxfam report, the top 1% In India holds more than 40% wealth, creating a ‘Billionaire Raj’!
Developed contries like Japan or Korea hardly have the kind of blood-billioners India has…solely because, the inheritance ends almost after fourth generation, owing to the progressive and coercive ‘rates of inheritance-tax’!
With 77 years completed, we are now entering into the 78th year of independent India, when we have to ask ourselves “whether the soul of a nation, long suppressed has really found utterance or wether we have been able to fulfill a pledge to bring freedom and opportunity to the peasants and workers, who are the real ‘wealth-creators’ of our nation?”
India has been able to create unparalleled wealth, in almost few decades…we have created wealth to the tune that our country could never think of creating in centuries. But the ‘distribution of wealth’ has been totally lopsided and grossly uneven. This has given rise to the inhuman ‘income disparity or inequality’ across the length and breadth of our country, spawning fleet of ‘blood-billioners’!
The workers and farmers of India were promised ‘trickle-down theory’, once the enormous wealth through LPG Policy (Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation) could have happened…a promise, that was never fulfilled, instead workers were handed out ‘neo-slavery and neo-untouchability’ through rampant spread of ‘contract-labour system’. The complete and full-proof subjugation of the entire working-class, with the spread of an extremely virulent ‘virus’ of Contract Labour System…clearly exposes the transition of corporate-culture from ‘Corporatalism to Corporate-Terrorism’.
So the independence either can be said to have not reached the lower most strata of society i.e. working-class or if at all, it had ever reached…it has been snatched away slowly after the advent of LPG era by the present day ‘Vampire-State System’…!!!
…Rajan Raje