The organised labour, however, maintained their reserve and closely watched the emerging scenario. After all, they have had an unpalatable experience with the previous Manmohan Singh Government.

Close observers of the industrial relations and labour reforms scene noted that there was hardly any corporate chief who did not express his exuberance at Manmohan Singh again taking over the helm at the Centre. After all, they were the sole beneficiaries of the liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation (LPG) regime which was sedulously pursued by the previous Manmohan Singh regime. They, therefore, were encouraged to set priorities for the new Government.

FICCI chief, Harsh Pati Singhania, for instance, in a statement said that stability is making Indian corporates feel good. “There is still need for greater incentives, certain fiscal changes. Tax rates should be brought down to bring more money into the hands of people,” he said, adding that “we would like to see inclusive growth” - a cliché that was in vogue under the previous Manmohan Singh Government.

Here is what CII chief, Venu Srinivasan, had to say: Our expectation from the new Government would be that economic imperatives are paid greater attention to and “the reform process is fast-tracked”, because the present situation demands it. A key area of focus would have to be infrastructure.

Managing Director of HDFC Ltd, Keki Mistry, felt that the mandate was “very positive for the market” as there will be stability at the Centre. “The stability should see more reforms in the financial sector.” The corporate sector should compliment the voters who had not looked at the regional issues, he added. Chairman of the Godrej Group, Adi Godrej sought to take a dig at the Left, while expressing satisfaction about the electoral outcome. He observed that there would be stability for the next five years. “The plus point is that the UPA will be able to form the Government without the support of the Left. This will be good for the Indian economy in terms of international perceptions as well.”

Chairman and Managing Director of Jubilant Organosys, Hari Bhartia, said the industry would like the Government to take up infrastructure as a priority sector, lower interest rates that would create demand. Director of Hiranandani group of Companies, Niranjan Hiranandani saw the biggest advantage in a stable Government. He would like to see that the construction industry gets the support of the new rulers. For the Chairman and Managing Director of Max India Ltd., the victory was a “value-based victory for the country at a difficult time.” Sunil Mittal, Chairman of the Bharti Enterprises, felt that the Indian economy is set to maintain its growth trajectory under the able leadership of Manmohan Singh along with the next generation leaders with a focus on all-inclusive growth. “India has much to cheer about,” he said. Co-Chairman of Infosys N. Nilekani saw great opportunity for the UPA “to come out with bold reforms within a month. A stable government will propel growth.” Chairman of UB Group Vijay Mallya was happy “now that the Left has become irrelevant, Dr. Singh has a mandate to do a bit more. I think this is superb for India.” More can be mentioned, but this is enough to understand the corporate sector's expectations from the new Government.

Only time will tell how far their expectations fructify under the vastly changed Congress scenario.

As for the organised working class, one of the reasons for their maintaining reserve is that its representation in the 15th Lok Sabha is the poorest ever. Enquiries with major CTUOs revealed that this time, the pro-Congress INTUC will have only one MP, Pawan Singh Ghatowar from Assam; AITUC general secretary Gurudas Dasgupta alone has reached Parliament; the CITU has three MPs, two are from West Bengal, including Basudev Acharya, and one from Kerala. HMS does not have even notional representation this time. The BMS always avoids claiming any. The point is that the organised labour's voice in Parliament would be the weakest. They used to be the strongest supporters of the causes of the unorganised labour as well.

The CTUOs too have certain priorities which they want to be raised in Parliament, negotiate with the Government or fight for at the mass level.

INTUC chief G. Sanjeeva Reddy feels that the unorganised labour needs to be given the highest priority. It is the vote of the poorest that is behind the success of the Congress in the election, he said, adding that the social security law has hardly given any relief. He said at least Rs 30, 000 crore would be needed to ensure minimum social security for the unorganised workers. Justice has to be done to the growing number of contract workers too in the industrial sector; but he was more concerned about 50 lakh workers rendered unemployed owing to global crisis and slowdown. Mr. Reddy hoped to raise these issues with the Government.


BMS general secretary K Lakshmana Reddy seemed totally oblivious of the Lok Sabha elections and reeled out a long demand charter: protecting jobs being lost because of globalisation; need for generating more employment; growing disparities and the “need to fight for reducing these to 1:10 ratio including up to Prime Minister”; Immediate withdrawal of private fund managers regime and handing over EPF to public sector banks for management; wage revision in the public sector and so on.

The Left CTUOs are still in the process of taking stock of the election debacle and its implications for the labour movement in the country. In an informal talk, an AITUC leader said that the struggles to defend the workers' rights would now be tougher and would require much wider TU unity in the period ahead. He also said that issues like NREGA will have to be taken more seriously in the struggle for unorganised working people.

HMS is planning to review the post-election labour situation at a meeting which is expected to take place soon. It has noted the recommendations of the Arjun Sengupta Commission on Unorganised Sector Enterprises, which says that there is evidence that labour reforms come in the way of job creation. Job creation has to be the priority. As for the organised sector, the Sixth Central Pay Commission has solved Central employees' problems. However, PSU workers' long-delayed wage negotiations continue to be held up. HMS feels that contractorisation has become a fait accompli because of globalisation; it is therefore toying with the possibility of importing the “Chinese Model” as a solution. It may discuss such a possibility in the Sponsoring Committee of Trade Unions with other Left colleagues.

The Prime Minister is yet to outline his Government's priorities. The new Ministry has a good number of young Congress MPs who openly admit that they owe their success to various welfare measures initiated by the UPA Government like NREGA. Congress general secretary and MP Rahul Gandhi refused to join the Cabinet despite Manmohan Singh's invitation; he wants to build the Youth Congress and the Congress in UP; his focus is on the youth and the poor in the country. Its potential in the political scenario is yet to unfold.

Another significant development: only a little while ago, the corporate press had floated the rumour that the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission and a close associate of Manmohan Singh was being brought to the Rajya Sabha so as to be able to hold the Finance portfolio. It was taken for granted though it shocked many. So long, the Prime Minister himself was being criticised by the BJP for not being able to find a Lok Sabha constituency for himself. The allusion was that he was bringing now a non-elected friend as the Finance Minister by the backdoor. Obviously, there was some stir within the Congress party as well. As a result, senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee has been appointed as the new FM.

This may be a small indication of the change inside the Congress. If it is true, it needs to be encouraged and not ignored. The working class should have a stake in healthy, secular and democratic development of the country. (IPA Service)