This powerful and well-argued essay lays bare one of the most pressing contradictions in India's development journey: rapid economic growth coexisting with persistent, structural poverty and labour exploitation. The author correctly challenges the notion that GDP growth alone can address poverty, making a compelling case for labour law enforcement, social protection, and policy accountability as the real levers of inclusive growth.
1. GDP Growth ≠ Poverty Eradication
The essay rightly debunks the assumption that accelerating India’s GDP growth to 10% will automatically solve poverty. While growth is important, the distribution of wealth and the dignity of work matter more. Without equitable policy design, growth remains non-inclusive, often benefiting only a sliver of the population — typically the urban elite or corporate sector.
2. Labour Law Enforcement Is the Missing Link
India has a strong legal framework for labour rights — from the Factories Act to the Contract Labour Act, Minimum Wages Act, and ESI Act — but enforcement remains apathetic or selectively implemented:
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Long working hours, lack of overtime, and rampant wage theft plague the unorganised and even outsourced organised sectors.
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Minimum wage violations are systemic, as proven by employer returns filed under EPF and ESI — showing how violations are visible in official data, yet ignored.
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Even Supreme Court judgments upholding wage parity and dignity of labour are flouted with impunity.
This shows a failure not of law, but of political will and administrative rigor.
3. Social Security Systems Remain Weak
Programs like ESI, designed as lifelines for sickness, injury, or death, remain underutilized due to low registration, contractual worker exclusion, and negligent implementation. This denies millions of workers basic security and reflects a shrinking of the state’s welfare commitment.
4. Structural Loopholes in Labour Reform
The Contract Labour Act, once envisioned as a progressive law, has been diluted by states to raise thresholds or enable casualisation of regular work — clearly benefiting employers at the cost of worker security. The same pattern appears in the Inter-State Migrant Workers Act and others that remain “dead letters.”
5. Persistent Bonded Labour and Gender Wage Gaps
The author delivers a stinging critique of symbolic gestures — such as inviting former bonded labourers to Red Fort — while ignoring active bondage in rural India. The Equal Remuneration Act remains largely ceremonial, despite clear judicial backing for “equal pay for equal work.” This reflects not just neglect, but a betrayal of constitutional values.
6. Two Executive Actions with High Impact
The author’s policy suggestions are realistic, affordable, and high-impact:
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Raise the EPF pension to ₹7,000 — a lifeline for ageing workers in the informal sector.
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Expand MGNREGS from 100 to 150 days, and standardise wages at ₹400/day, addressing rural distress and wage stagnation.
That the government retained the MGNREGS allocation unchanged despite inflation and rising rural demand shows how policy priorities often ignore the working poor.
7. The Irony of Free Grains in a “Rich” Country
The most biting critique comes at the end: India — the fourth-largest economy — distributing free food to over 80 crore people is not a sign of generosity, but a symptom of economic exclusion. It shows that welfare is compensating for the failure of work-based dignity, and unless corrected, “Sabka Vikas” will remain a slogan rather than reality.
Final Reflection:
This essay is not merely a critique — it's a blueprint for justice-based development. It argues that legal enforcement, administrative accountability, and minimal social protection guarantees are not leftist ideals but constitutional obligations.
If India is serious about becoming a developed nation, it must address this structural contradiction: a rich economy with poor policy priorities. Until that happens, poverty may shrink statistically — but it will persist morally, economically, and socially.
