In these turbo charged times of ideological warfare over intolerance and the "immiserisation" (Marxist intellectuals and economists will be familiar with the term!) of the Idea of India, the term "minority appeasement" is a heavily loaded one. But let me assure you that in this particular instance, the term has nothing to do with Muslims and the tendency of some "nationalistic" Indians to pack them off to Pakistan! A minority is simply that, the opposite of a majority. In this case, when the author is taking about "minority appeasement", he is talking about government employees who constitute a minority if you consider the total working population of India.
Much has already been reported, written and analyzed about the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission. There have been critics that lament how the core task of administrative reforms have not been achieved by the Pay Commission. There have been suggestions by some pundits that the average 23 per cent hike in pay will lead to a consumption boom that will drive economic growth, just as it seemed to have happened the last time around when the Sixth Pay Commission report was implemented back in 2008. Some other pundits scoff at this. There are analysts who suggest that the total increase in expenditure including pensions will be less than 0.7 per cent of GDP, which means there will be no pressure on the fiscal situation. Some other analysts call this hogwash. Some optimistic analysts suggest that the provision where non- performers would not get annual increments is a great positive step ahead towards accountability. Some others smile derisively and say how will non payment of an annual increment of 3% make an inefficient government employee work harder? Yes, the annual increment envisaged in the 7th Pay Commission report is 3 per cent!
Now let's leave aside these debates and look at the facts. The 7th Pay Commission will directly affect 4.7 million people who are employed by the central government, including the railways. Inevitably, state governments across India will also implement the recommendations after some protests, petitions and strikes, as it always happens. Even if we take a very generous view, we could say that another 15 million employees in various state governments will benefit from the pay hike. That makes it a total, of 20 million at best. This is where my reference to "minority appeasement" comes. As per the 2011 Census, the total workforce of India was a little above 480 million. Assuming normal rates of growth and addition, the total workforce in India would now be definitely 500 million at least. Now, 20 million constitutes 4 per cent of that. In effect, the whole brouhaha about the 7th Pay Commission is about a tiny minority of 4 per cent of the total workforce. Even the Muslims constitute 14 per cent!
This author has not come across any substantive debate on the fate of the remaining 96 per cent of the work force. A few months ago, the Union Cabinet had approved some far reaching changes in minimum wage laws. This was barely reported by the mainstream media. Definitely not as breathlessly as the it has been covering the 7th Pay Commission. The earlier cabinet decision had stipulated that the minimum wage for a skilled worker in a class A city would be Rs 18,000 per month. That is exactly equal to the minimum pay fixed by the 7th Pay Commission. This is where minority appeasement comes in again. Just take one example. The minimum wage for an unskilled workers under the new dispensation (if the cabinet decisions are implemented) in a class C city would be Rs 6,000 per month. Now the required qualification for a peon job in a state government is class V pass. The lucky person, who surely falls in the unskilled category, who does manage to get that elusive government pekoe job will get Rs 18,000 per month. Therein lies the difference. In any case, there is brazen hypocrisy about the manner in which pundits, intellectuals and the media debate worker rights. Their focus is almost invariably on "organized" labour in both the state and private sector who constitute just about 10 per cent of the total workforce of 500 million. Not much is written or debated about the balance 90 per cent who are in the unorganized sector. (The fate of "contract workers" is another issue altogether and will be written about in a separate piece).
What are the consequences of this kind of "minority appeasement"? Well, two recent news reports provide a clear indication. Some time back, the government of Uttar Pradesh decided to fill up the "vacant" posts of 328 peons. The minimum qualification was class V pass. What happened next caught the attention even of the global media. More than 2.3 million (yes 23 lakh) people applied for the jobs. The applicants included Ph.D scholars, MBA and Masters degree holders and engineers. It was estimated that it would take more than four years to complete the interview process of the applicants. Similarly, when the government of Chhattisgarh advertised to hire about 30 peons, more than 75,000 candidates applied. That just about sums up the reality of the job market in India.
