India had come forward to adopt market oriented new economic policy, thus opening india to LPG (Liberalisation Privatisation and Globalisation) Agriculture: The agriculture sector has been declining since the mid-1990s.There were several farmers suicides since and the export-oriented agriculture has ruined the farmers especially the cotton growing farmers in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. India’s agriculture sector, which houses more than percent of the people, has grown at a rate of . percent between / and / . This is cause for concern as it may produce India’s second agrarian crisis.
(The first one was at the beginning of the 1960s) Subsidies to the rich and middle-income farmers like free power, price supports, free water, and free fertilizer have not been reduced but a public investment that uplifts all has come down. US$ billion loan waiver for farmers announced in the populist Union budget of / will not affect the majority of the marginal farmers. percent of the marginal farmers do not have access to ( formal loans. Drought proofing million hectares of arable land with the same amount of money would have produced results that are more inclusive.
Industry: The Industrial Disputes Act protects less than percent of India’s workforce, which means that more than percent of the workers are in the unorganised sector. The public sector has unionised workers with greater bargaining power and the private sector keeps the workers from joining any union and from taking up any labour issues. Indian industry remains capital intensive, resulting in high-level unemployment in the formal sector. Unemployment is steadily rising resulting in informalisation and casualisation of work.
Land acquisition has become a major problem resulting in the displacement of tribals and their land. India’s industrialisation is beginning to demand more and more land. Industrial land acquisition needs to be based on the consent of the local people. Acquisition needs to be preceded by compensation and welfare measures that rendered the acquisition of land for industrial purposes as a developmental endeavour.
The current laws give the government substantial powers