Workers in Gujarat are among the lowest paid in India

 

 

In 2011-12, per capita Net State Domestic Product of Gujarat was Rs.57,447, considerably higher than the per capita Net Domestic Product of India, which was Rs.37,643 (both at 2004-05 prices).

 

However, in the same year, the average daily wages of male casual workers in rural areas of Gujarat was Rupees 116, far below the Indian average of Rupees 149 for the same category of workers. In fact, among 28 Indian States, there were only two States in which rural casual workers were paid wages that were lower than in Gujarat (in 2011-12). These States were Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh (see Table 1).

 

Table 1: Average wages (in Rs) per day received by male casual labourers (aged 15 - 59 years and engaged in works other than public works) in rural areas of Selected Indian States, 2011-12

Source: Employment and Unemployment Situation in India, NSS 68^th round, July 2011 – June 2012, National Sample Survey Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India, January 2014, Statement 5.15.3.

 

 

In general, casual workers are employed in the lower rungs of the economy, receiving low wages and often having to perform hard, manual labour. Casual workers accounted for 33% of Gujarat’s (and 35% of India’s) rural workforce in 2011-12. The rest of Gujarat’s rural workforce comprised the self-employed and regular employees, with shares of 57% and 10% respectively (56% and 9% in India) of the total. The National Sample Surveys on Employment and Unemployment collect information on the average daily wages or salaries paid to casual and regular workers in the country (of course, such information is not available for self-employed workers).

 

Within the urban workforce, employees receiving regular wages or salaries form the largest group. In Gujarat, regular employees comprised 49.5% of the urban workforce, higher than the share of such workers in the country as a whole (43.4%) (Casual workers and the self-employed account for the rest of the urban workforce – 8.9% and 41.7% respectively in Gujarat and 14.6% and 42% respectively in India in 2011-12).

 

With respect to the average wages paid to regular workers in urban areas, Gujarat is at the very bottom of the table among Indian States. In 2011-12, average daily wages received by a regular-salaried male employee in Gujarat’s urban areas was Rs.326, way below the Indian average of Rs.470 for similar category of workers (see  Table 2).

 

Table 2: Average wages (in Rupees) per day received by male regular-wage employees (aged 15-59 years) in urban areas of Selected Indian States, 2011-12

Source: Employment and Unemployment Situation in India, NSS 68^th round, July 2011 – June 2012, National Sample Survey Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India, January 2014, Statement 5.13.1.

 

It is expected that with fast economic growth, there will be greater economic opportunities, and this will, in turn, push up wage rates and improve the living conditions of workers. Kerala, Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra are some of the States that – along with Gujarat – are in the top league in the country in terms of per capita incomes. Indeed, among Indian States, rural wages are the highest in Kerala and are relatively high in Tamil Nadu as well. Urban wages are considerably above the Indian average in Haryana, Kerala and Maharashtra.

 

Gujarat is the only relatively high-income State that has the dubious distinction of having extremely low wage rates for workers in both its rural and urban areas.

 

Clearly, the fast growth of incomes that occurred in Gujarat has not benefitted workers in this State. This indicates that employment growth in the State has been inadequate, or that capitalists are able to exert a much greater degree of control over workers in this State, or that a combination of these factors are at work. In any case, this evidence on wages seriously dents Mr. Narendra Modi’s claim that Gujarat has been ‘shining’ under his rule.

 May 05, 2014