Citing the Periodic Labour Force Survey Series, Ramesh said the average real earnings over time have stagnated between 2017 and 2022 across all employment types’ salaried workers, casual workers and self- employed workers.Citing the Center for Labour Research and Action, Ramesh said the real wages of brick kiln workers have stagnated or declined between 2014 and 2022.Brick kilns involve intensive labour and are a low-paying work of last resort for India’s poorest, he said.When real wages stagnate or fall as they have in the last few years, consumption will also be stagnant, Ramesh pointed out.”The recent rush of statements by senior leaders from India Inc about slowing consumption are only the symptom of this deeper malaise. This slowdown will have severe consequences for us: without adequate growth in consumption to assure them of a market for their products, India’s private sector will be unwilling to invest in new production,” he argued.”Not surprisingly, the quarterly GDP growth numbers reveal that private investment – which has to drive accelerated economic growth – continues to be extremely sluggish. Our medium and long-term economic potential is eroding rapidly,” he said.The Congress leader pointed out that the fundamental cause for this is stagnant wages for crores of workers. How long will this grim reality continue to be ignored, Ramesh asked.”The people of India continue to live in hope while the Prime Minister generates hype,” he said.India’s economic growth slowed to near two-year low of 5.4 percent in the July-September quarter of this fiscal due to poor performance of manufacturing and mining sectors, but the country continued to remain the fastest-growing large economy, data showed on Friday.The gross domestic product (GDP) had expanded by 8.1 percent in the July-September quarter of 2023-24 fiscal, he said.The previous low level of GDP growth at 4.3 percent was recorded in the third quarter (October-December 2022) of financial year 2022-23.However, India remained the fastest-growing major economy as China’s GDP growth in the July-September quarter this year was at 4.6 percent.
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