The Idea of Minimum Wage and Kerala

“LABOUR, like all other things which are purchased and sold, and which may be increased or diminished in quantity, has its natural price and its market price. The natural price of labour is that price which is necessary to enable the labourers, one with another, to subsist and to perpetuate their race. While, the market price of labour is the price which is really paid for it, from the natural operation of the proportion of the supply to the demand.”

                                                                           -- David Ricardo

David Ricardo, the economist of 18^th century who advocated against the interference of legislation in market mechanism also acknowledged the concept of minimum wages (a contemporary term to Ricardo’s ‘natural prices’). The discussion of minimum wage concept is in the need of the hour at a time when the government of Kerala has found itself in the midst of flaring debates from sections standing for and against minimum wage. There has also been a view that the government has over interfered in wage regulation which has distorted the market mechanism. If then, what is the role of the government in regulating wages of the workers? Where should the government draw a line in order to ensure the safe functioning of the market mechanism and at the same time, prevent its citizens from facing the adversity of market competition? This require a critical analysis of what is the real purpose of implementing minimum wages and how minimum wage should be differentiated from the wages set by the market.

Minimum wage could be defined as the wage necessary to enable the labourers to subsist himself. It is the lowest daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. Minimum wages depends on the price of food and other necessary commodities consumed by the worker depending upon his habits and customs. When the price of the commodities increase, the minimum wages of the workers should increase and vice versa. In other words, the minimum wages should be dependent on the inflation.

Just because, a minimum wage is set by the government does not mean that the workers are only entitled to get this minimum pay for their basic subsistence. The actual wages to be paid in the market should be in line with the demand and supply of labour. That is, the wage rate should be determined by the market forces.

When the wage rate decided by the market goes lower than the minimum subsistence level (caused due to an over-supply of labour), then it will lead to starvation and abject poverty among workers. The role of the government must be not let this starvation happen. But it does not mean that the government has to set the minimum wages very high letting the worker have a flourishing life, which will in the long run, prove detrimental to the economy.

Unlike the arguments of the critics, a minimum wage set scientifically by a government in order to meet the minimal living expense of a worker, will not affect the market mechanism. The argument can be explained further. If the wage rate set by the market go down to the level equal to the minimum wage rate set by the government, then the worker will not continue with the same job (that gives him minimum subsistence), he/she will look for a job that will fetch a higher wage. Thus, efficient allocation of labour force based on market principles remain unencumbered ensuring the welfare of not subjecting the labour to poverty.

Present minimum wage system in Kerala: A concern or not?

The report on the Working of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 for the year 2013, published by the Ministry of Labour and Employment identifies Kerala as the state that pay the highest minimum wage in the country (Rs382.5 for unskilled workers and Rs.532.2 in the case of employment in river sand collection). The wages set by the market in Kerala today is also the highest in the country (Rs713 as of July 2013). The minimum wage rate does not become a concern as long as the wages set by the market stays above it. The unintended consequences of minimum wages arise only when the market wage rate fall below the minimum wage.  If the minimum wages are not determined scientifically, then it distorts the market mechanism and aggravate into uneven distribution of labour resources.

            The question here is how scientifically, the minimum wage rate is determined. The Minimum Wages Act,1947 does not prescribe a stipulated criteria for fixing the minimum wage and the governments have the liberty to fix the minimum wages based on the recommendations of an expert committee. But, the extent to which the states follow this is dubious. 

             In the absence of any criteria stipulated for fixing the minimum wage in the Minimum Wages Act, the Indian Labour Conference in 1957 had said that the following norms should be taken into account while fixing the minimum wage. The norms for fixing minimum wage rate are (a) three consumption units per earner, (b) minimum food requirement of 2700 calories per average Indian adult, (c) cloth requirement of 72 yards per annum per family, (d) rent corresponding to the minimum area provided under the government's Industrial Housing Scheme and (e) fuel, lighting and other miscellaneous items of expenditure to constitute 20 per cent of the total minimum wage (f) Fuel, lighting and other miscellaneous items of expenditure to constitute 20% of the total Minimum Wages, (g) children education, medical requirement, minimum recreation including festivals/ceremonies and provision for old age, marriage etc. should further constitute 25% of the total minimum wage.

            In Kerala, given the highest minimum wage rate in the country, if not determined scientifically. The consequence is that, at a time of excess supply of labourers, the declining market wages get stuck at the minimum wage level. Since the minimum wage level provide them with income comfortable for their living, they do not search for higher paid jobs. As a result, efficient allocation of labour resource does not happen which exacerbate into resource wastage resulting in economic inefficiency.

Whither Women Emancipation in India

                                                                                                                               

ABSTRACT The paper intends to reflect on India’s journey towards a gender neutral society which has taken roots from the post-independence period. The initiatives put forth by both the central government and the state governments only form an edifice for women empowerment, but the real solution lie beyond these statutes. The quest for women emancipation requires a sound socio-economic and psychological approach and a staunch support from all sections of the society. The paper also creates a possible roadmap in the Indian journey towards women emancipation that the lawmakers must keep in mind and a message to the citizens that gender disparity is not just a women issue, but rather a human issue.

The entrenchment of gender and the existence of patriarchy are global phenomena that existed from time immemorial. From Aristotle’s exclusion of all women from political activity to Rousseau’s argument for women to be educated differently from men and excluded from citizenship provide us ample space to keep us from the fallacy of observing women subjugation as India’s malice alone. The first, second and third waves of feminism have promoted significant progress of women emancipation in the global arena. But somehow, the ideals of feminism have just remained within the walls of India’s intellectual elite keeping the vast majority in ambiguity. To analyse the gender question, one has to begin with the role of our welfare state.                          India began to make a marked shift in women emancipation from the Fifth Five Year Plan. The National Commission for Women was setup in 1990 to safeguard the rights and legal entitlements of women. The 73^rd and 74^th constitutional amendments have provided reservation of seats for women in the local bodies. There was a flow of various schemes for the upliftment of women. In the health sector, The Mother and Child Tracking System (MCTS) under the Janaani Suraksha Yojana was introduced to track every pregnant woman for timely prenatal care, institutional delivery and post-natal care. The Janaani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (JSSK) provides entitlements to absolutely free expense including transportation charges for those women delivering at the public health institutions. The National Food Security Act 2013 provides food subsidies for mothers and pregnant women through Anganawadis. Education was another area of consideration for the Government. The Sakshar Bharat Scheme was introduced to eliminate the literacy gap of 16.2% between men and women. The Kanyasree Prakalpa programme adopted by the West Bengal Government to provide economic support to girls pursuing education got international recognition. The Bharatiya Mahila Bank, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Ajeevika, Kudumbashree units and she taxis of Kerala are some of the many schemes taken up by the central and various state governments. The above said activities of the state provide us ample space to believe that our journey towards women emancipation and a gender neutral society has already begun. But how far we have reached and how we should go about to realize this goal form the crux of this essay.
              
The lethal mixture of patriarchy and misogyny has taken our society far from normal to witness atrocious acts like the Delhi rape, lynching and hanging of the Badaun girls on a tree in Haryana, the Mumbai rape, thousands of unreported marital rapes and egregious acts against women. There was a decline in the sex ratio from 945 in 1991 to 918 in 2011 with Haryana being the worst performer with 834 women to 1000 men. Even in a developed state like Punjab more than 154 women are missing. Why is it that India is facing vehement international flak when it comes to the treatment of its women? The answer is quite simple and obvious. The patriarchal mindset and misogyny has become so deep rooted that their cleansing demands the arduous efforts of every social group irrespective of religion, caste and politics. The social acceptance of Khap Panchayats, honour killings and domestic violence has not only affected the mindset of the male population, but it has also made women the passive perpetrators even though they do not actively support them.                We may not be able to change it fortnight, but we can slowly but definitely fill up the lacunae with generations ahead. Therefore, it is essential for our educational system to develop the potential to create a new generation completely free from gender bias. The Justice Verma Committee report on gender violence reiterates the need to restructure the edifice of our educational system which must focus on gender mainstreaming. Promoting effective sex education in high schools and colleges would help students to abjure the dogma regarding the sexuality of the opposite gender. It will also help them to be more realistic in their attitude which is far beyond the fantasies created by pornography. Equality of gender would be achievable only if one treats the other gender with equal respect. Our society has itself drawn a psychological redline that separates gender. Our minds tend to assign jobs, activities and platforms differently for men and women. The students often become passive perpetrators of these delusions. It could be resolved carefully by training our teachers to be liberal and morally upright while engaging students in activities. The camaraderie thus developed between boys and girls can transform the way they look upon the society.                      Similarly, it may be this psychological redline that has given way to excessive sexual frustrations. It is often the ultimate breakdown of these frustrations that contribute to crime against women. Globalisation has brought about a cultural mix which has made an irreversible shift in the society. A globalised culture along with frustrated sexuality will lead into an egregious addiction to pornography which when exacerbated would result in crimes. Dealing with this requires a planned and pragmatic approach. Simply banning pornography and brothels would do more harm. On the other hand, promoting brothels is futile as they just provide another platform for exploitation and harassment of women by men. But prostitution has remained as the oldest profession in the world and will continue to be so. These contradicting arguments made me continue my search for an amicable solution. I was inspired by a novel idea put forward by an article in ‘The Economist’ magazine. It insisted on creating an internet platform where buyers and sellers could meet without the influence of any middlemen. Thus, banning brothels but legalising consensual sex could help reduce frustrations of the community.  The argument is supported with an example of Rhode Island in the United States. When the government unintentionally decriminalised indoor prostitution between 2003 and 2009, the state showed a steep decline in reported rape cases.

Similarly, the role played by women themselves in the man centric society is significant to achieve the goal of complete emancipation. Unfortunately, many abuses on women in day to day life (including verbal, physical and emotional) are seen as ordinary business in life. Often those women who complain of harassment at home or at the workplace find themselves isolated. Very few women encourage the victim to speak up and support her. Standing up to a husband or a son who opposes a girl to marry outside her caste, helping a woman who is publicly humiliated, reporting a case of domestic violence or forming pressure groups in villages to say no to violence are ways ahead for women in fighting for their rights rather than remain passive and put the blame on the man world. The women in power should come out beyond their party lines and come together to form advocacy groups. The onus is on the educated and empowered women to take up the leadership to transform the society which is free from gender bias. As Madeleine Albright said, ‘there is a special place in hell for women who do not help other women’.                       Interestingly, good educational system and a sanguine social environment will only form an edifice for women empowerment. There is also a need for an employment diversification for women. Women must break away from the bait of traditional soft jobs like secretaries, teachers, nurses and receptionists to participate more openly in the men dominated professions like entrepreneurs, scientists, chief executive officers, engineers in heavy equipment manufacturing, pioneers in innovation etc. This will help in the inadvertent elimination of the psychological redline. The greatest strength of democracy is that opportunities are laid equally before everyone. It is an individual’s duty to make use of them.  Surprisingly, one could notice these changes though in smaller proportions around us. Support them and bring them to limelight so that they become an inspiration for others to follow. Women employment has its own merits. Firstly, women enjoy the benefits of financial independence which make them less vulnerable. Secondly, being bread winners elevate their status and respect in a family. Thirdly, working outside the home provides them with experience of the outside world which would make them proactive and self-aware of their rights and opportunities.                             We can draw a parallel of India’s quest for women emancipation to USA’s fight against slavery. Even though President Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery through the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, it took long years for Americans to abjure the inexorable evil from their society. Soon after slavery was abolished, the masters of the slave society were determined to crush the liberation of the slaves. The dark humans were lynched and even hung on trees to prove the white psychological superiority. But today, USA has gone a long way giving esteem to the Afro-American community.  This success history of the struggle against a deep rooted social lacuna could extend both hopes and lessons for India. One must realize the fact that the fortunes of democratic India are favourable not only to the wives and daughters of affluent politicians and millionaires but also to the women of every aspiring family irrespective of their financial status. Women like Kiran Mazumdar Shaw and Arundhati Battacharya have taken the road less travelled and have in fact set the path for others to follow. The birth of a baby girl must not be seen as the beginning of a treacherous and burdened life but rather a girl child like her counterpart must equally become the hope and aspiration of the middle class family. It is our individual duty as citizens to create the roadmap and open up the horizon for others to follow. India’s journey towards women emancipation has already begun. But the predicament of our journey can be likened to a society caught up in the middle of an ocean. The choices to the Indian society are to swim to the shore of emancipation or to drown in the ocean of scepticism.

References:

·         Ratna Kapur (2014-06-05). “Normalising sexual violence?” The Hindu·         The Economist (2014-08-09). “Prostitution: A personal Choice”.·         Cunningham, S and Shah, M. “Decriminalizing Indoor Prostitution: Implications for Sexual Violence and Public Health” (working paper, July 17th 2014). dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2467633·         “National Policy on Women Empowerment” http://www.wcd.nic.in/empwomen.htm·         “Justice Verma Committee Report” http://www.prsindia.org/parliamenttrack/report-summaries/justice-verma-committee-report-summary-2628/·         Amartya Sen (1990-12-20). “More than 100 million women are missing” http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1990/dec/20/more-than-100-million-women-are-missing/·         “Schemes - Ministry of Women and Child Development”  http://wcd.nic.in/schemes.htm