Essay on “Right to Work” Complete Essay for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

Right to Work

Emergence of the Welfare State in the late 19th century brought into sharp focus the necessity of providing employment to all. Today economists the world over have universally agreed that providing jobs to all eligible people should be the major thrust area. Even in neo-classical economics, human resource and manpower management are often glibly talked about. All these underscore the importance of providing human beings with gainful employment.

The Indian national leadership, which emerged out of Indian Freedom Movement, guaranteed the right of all able-bodied citizens to work. In pre-Independence India, “Right to Work” was inconceivable since alien rule never regarded colonial people’s right to living inalienable. When the Constitution was in the process of drafting, several members proposed that right to work be made a justifiable right and, therefore, be included in the chapter on Fundamental Right. After a fairly wide-ranging discussion, it was resolved that the right to work, be made a non-justifiable right, and hence be placed in Article 41 of the Constitution, which is included in the Chapter on Directive Principles of State Policy.

In the recent past, the National Front leadership in 1990 made an open declaration that right to work should not only be made a Fundamental Right, but be viewed in the context of a welfare-oriented economic drive towards egalitarianism. They held that the statisticians’’ approach to planning led to over-centralisation and, consequently, to debasement of human values. What the National Front leadership wanted was catapulting the human being right at the centre of all economic activities. It is a solemn pledge, according to them, to uplift million in right earnest.

The basic requirement of an individual are food, clothing and shelter. Unless we get an opportunity to Work, to perform the type of job in which we are proficient, we cannot procure these for our survival. Today millions of our young people are unemployed. The country is already facing brain drain. For want of proper opportunities in India, lots of experts leave this country every year in search of better prospects abroad. Today, educated unemployed youth are becoming Naxalites. Illiterate youth opt for anti-social activities like robbery, smuggling, drug trade and even terrorism. Frustrated people can resort to strange methods in their struggle for survival.

Some people suggest that the only remedy available with the government is to include the Right to Work in the Fundamental Rights. The State should provide gainful employment to every eligible citizen by making the Right to Work a Fundamental Right. Again, it is argued that this right can be used as a major tool for eradication of poverty as it will ensure maximum employment in the country and income to all sections of the labour force. India, which has a socialistic economy, can ensure the right to work to its people by making sick and closed industries viable, encouraging small-scale industries and self-employment schemes. Work should be provided to people for utilisation of the abundant natural resources of our country. It is also another way to utilise the vast human resources for the development of the nation.

It is not at all advisable to make the Right to Work a Fundamental Right. It will throw the country and its economy out of gear because it involves mind-boggling burden on the exchequer. Full employment i.e. jobs for every job-seeker is almost impossible to achieve in India. One basic difference between Western countries and India is that, while in Western countries the number of unemployed is very shall as compared to the number of employed persons, and almost every unemployed person possesses some definite skill or qualification for some definite category of jobs, in India the number of unemployed persons is so large that they cannot be exactly counted. Moreover, most of people are only generalists and do not possess any specific skills for specific job. Then, they are interested only in the type of work they like and are reluctant to take up the jobs which are available. Therefore, the conversion of the Right to Work into a Fundamental Right would imply payment of unemployment allowance or doles to all the so-called jobless people. And if that is to be done, then the cost in terms of wage bill alone will be astronomical. What it will do to the budget deficit and to inflation can only be imagined. Today there are 143 million registered unemployed in the country. But all of them are not totally unemployed. As against this, there may be millions who are actually unemployed and who are not registered. To pay dole equal to the minimum wages to them, the Government will have to find more than Rs. 500 million annually. If resources are mopped up through taxation or market borrowing, the budgetary imbalance will exacerbate. The remedy of unemployment problem may prove worse than the disease. The suggestion has political overtones and is impracticable.

The galloping increase in the population and the consequent rise in the labour force will further aggravate matters. Moreover, doles may act as a disincentive to work in India where people are prone to lotus-eating. It may also involve administrative problems.

Again, a fundamental right guaranteed to citizens enables them to seek redress in court of law when this right is violated. One can go to the Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution or to a High Court under Article 226 and seek immediate relief. If unemployed millions approach the courts for job or doles, the already-clogged courts will be clogged further.

India, according to Gunnar Myrdal (Asian Drama), is caught in a dilemma like the rest of the Third World. Popular expectation, ever increasing craze for conspicuous consumption, the habit of living on borrowed money—all these posed an unbearable burden on the country’s economy. For a Third World country, particularly where tradition sits heavy on people and received wisdom cannot be dispensed with that easily, to provide all with employment is virtually impossible. As such the right to work can only be a feasible proposition if radical overhauling of the economy takes place.