B.R. Ambedkar’s emancipatory vision of Democracy

In Context 

• Recently, it has been observed that it is imperative to understand the main reasons behind B.R. Ambedkar ‘s active interest in economic and labour rights’ .

BR Ambedkar contribution in shaping modern india 

• Mooknayak (The Leader of the Mute) was a fortnightly newspaper he started in 1920 with the patronage of his mentor, Shahuji Maharaj. 
  • It was  the first journalistic venture of Babasaheb Ambedkar.
  • It aimed to put forward Ambedkar’s own point of view on matters such as Swaraj, the education of the ‘untouchables’, and the evils of untouchability, which had hitherto not found due representation in mainstream Hindi journals.

• Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha
  • 1924: Founded the Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha also known as Outcastes Welfare Association, with an aim to spread education and awareness among the dalits.

• Mahad Satyagraha
  • 1927: Led the Mahad Satyagraha in Maharashtra to challenge the regressive customs of the Hindu.
• Kalaram Satyagraha
  • 1930: Started Kalaram Satyagraha in Nashik, which was a temple entry movement for the untouchables.

• Poona Pact
  • 1932: He, on behalf of untouchables, signed the Poona Pact with Mahatma Gandhi, who was representing Congress.
    • The pact provided the provisions for reserved seats for the depressed class instead of a separate electorate in the regional legislative assemblies and Central Council of States.

• 1947: Worked as the first Law Minister of India in Jawahar Lal Nehru’s cabinet and was also made the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of Constitution.

Vision of  Amdekars ‘s work on economic democracy

• He clearly laid out his vision regarding the substance of political economy through his writings such as States and Minorities (1947),
• In 1928,he struggled to get the Maternity Benefit Bill passed in the Bombay Legislative Council. 
  • This was later taken up by the Madras Legislative Council in 1934. 
• In 1942, Ambedkar changed the work time to eight hours per day from earlier 12 hours. 
• The Labour Investigation Committee and Labour Commissioners’ were instituted by Babasaheb to ameliorate the condition of workers as much as possible within the existing law.
• He strongly argued for simultaneously addressing substantive questions of political, social, and economic democracy because they are intertwined with each other in a way that leaving out one will jeopardise the progress made in another. 
• He was as much a believer in economic justice as in social justice.

• This becomes clear when we go through his work, States and Minorities. 
  • This document contained extensive safeguards for the emancipation of the Scheduled Castes and laid out his vision of socio-cultural justice and economic fairness.

• He had argued for nationalisation of key and basic industries, the agriculture and insurance sectors. 

• He wanted the State to allocate agricultural land only on a tenancy basis to people ( irrespective of caste, class and creed) for collective farming. 
• He established equal pay for equal work irrespective of gender as a member of the Viceroy’s Council but also included this as part of the Directive Principles in the Indian Constitution. 
  • However, women still continue to receive on average between ?70 to ?90 a day, less than men as both formal and informal workers. 

How the existing economic system pursued by the political parties is antagonistic to the model envisioned by B.R. Ambedkar?

• The attempts are being made to (mis)appropriate Ambedkar by parties, organisations and individuals of various ideological persuasions for their own interests without making any effort to embody Ambedkar’s principles of socio-cultural justice and economic fairness.
  • It also seems to be deliberately ignoring his world-view on economic equality, fairness and justice.
  • it does not do justice to Ambedkar’s grand emancipatory vision of democracy. 

• Some initiatives taken recently are against the vision of  B.R. Ambedkar.
  • The on-going monetisation/sell-off/privatisation of airports, the Indian Railways, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL)/ Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), public sector banks and other public sector organisations are grave assaults on economic democracy.

Issues /Concerns 

• The process of massive ‘contractualisation’ and ‘informalisation/casualisation’ of labourers since the 1990s widened the economic inequality between employer and employee and also between high paid permanent employees on the one hand and low paid regular, contractual and temporary employees on the other. 
  • Contract workers have increased from 15.5% in 2000-01 to 27.9% in 2015-16 even in the organised manufacturing sector. 
  • In States such as Bihar, Uttarakhand and Odisha, a majority of the organised manufacturing workforce is contractual. 

• Despite the prohibition under the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970, contract workers are being paid lower salary/wage for the same work.

• This is a clear violation of the law and Article 141 of the Constitution, as observed by the Supreme Court of India in 2016. 

• The four labour codes (on wages, social security, occupational safety and industrial relations) are going to worsen the situation of workers.

Way Forward 

• The Union and State governments must take proactive measures to follow the triad vision of democracy — social, economic and political — if they want to celebrate Babasaheb in the true sense. 
•  Many of which the four labour codes seek to circumvent or reverse surreptitiously. Therefore, it is high time we stand by the ideals of the architect of the Constitution.

Source:TH