Answer

Introduction

Noida’s unrest signals a deeper structural fault highlighting India’s manufacturing growth relies on suppressed wages without productivity gains, unlike East Asia where industrial upgrading ensured rising incomes, exposing limits of India’s current labour–capital trajectory.

Body

Merits: India vs East Asia

Demerits: India vs East Asia

Way Forward

• Productivity Boost: Enhance manufacturing productivity through technology adoption and skill development to enable sustainable wage growth.
  Eg: Economic Survey of India emphasises productivity-led growth as key to higher real wages.
• Value Upgrade: Transition from low-value assembly to higher-value design, innovation, and branding within global value chains.
  Eg: Expanding PLI schemes beyond assembly into R&D-intensive sectors like electronics manufacturing.
• Labour Reform: Prioritise strict enforcement of existing labour laws to ensure dignity and fairness in workplaces. 
• Wage Growth: Align wage increases with productivity improvements to ensure inclusive growth.
  Eg: East Asian economies like South Korea achieved rising real wages alongside industrial expansion.
• Social Support: Strengthen welfare measures such as affordable housing, healthcare, and public services to cushion workers.
  Eg: East Asian models provided extensive public housing support, reducing cost-of-living pressures on industrial labour.

Conclusion

For a Viksit Bharat 2047, India must shift from low-wage competitiveness to productivity-led, worker-centric manufacturing, aligning with SDG 8 and SDG 9 to ensure equitable growth, industrial resilience, and social stability.

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