Indian Economy is going through a great crisis today, but if we look at the economic history of India at least since India was constituted in 1950, it was always on the wrong track! There are a number of reasons for this and one of the reasons is the coincidence of the capitalist class with certain caste groups. The constitution of India could have incorporated models that would have helped our country to achieve economic growth along with the economic development under the leadership of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar.

Read also – Dr Ambedkar As An Economist

Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar wanted to ensure economic justice through the constitution of India, but his project was thwarted by the groups which had vested interests as a result despite having the advantage of natural resources and the demographic advantage, we still languish economically.

Let us try to spell out some of the key principles and models that Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar advocated.

Ambedkar Economics is not based on the goal of marketisation of everything and anything. Though marketisation of some services and commodities might be the useful market is not the all-pervasive mechanism in economic growth and development. The goal of the market is profit and it can a good motive for human beings but not the only motive. It has been proved that marketisation of the blood donations does not work. The marketisation of public goods also fails to deliver the common good. Ambedkar Economics sees the role of the state in creating economic growth and development. It is the state alone that can regulate unbridled capitalism and its corollary the marketisation and commodification of everything.

Ambedkar Economics is also careful of financialisation. The stock exchanges as the facilitators of the capital are welcomed in the Ambedkar Economics, but it denies the role of omnipotent power to the stock exchanges. In other words, the stock exchange as the horse-trading is not accepted in Ambedkar Economics. This is what Babasaheb told to his friend in a letter the unreliability of the stock exchange to produce wealth. This argument can be extended to the other markets as well, speculation at the level of horse-trading and racing will not help the economy.

Ambedkar Economics has a strong theoretical side and Babasaheb Ambedkar produced models and theories that can cover monetary economics to agricultural economics. His ultimate analysis is rooted in pragmatism and heavy reliance on data available. Pick up his any economic writing at random and you will encounter data and analysis.

Due to the paucity of the space, we will not go into every aspect of his economic thinking, but we will concentrate on one model that has been recently discussed by economists. The first winner of the Nobel Prize among the African Americans is Prof. Lewis whose Lewis model shows the relationship between the capital and labour. It shows how capitalists economy and subsistence economy (Labour economy, one can even say) are mutually dependent and he proposed a model known as the Lewis model.

If we search in the writings of Babasaheb Ambedkar, there is this model available in his economic thinking. He has dealt clearly with the agrarian nature of the Indian economy and the idle workforce in the Indian economy he termed as disguised employment. Even in India today, we have so much of the unskilled and idle labour camouflaged as the farmers. The technique of farming is not improved and this much labour force is not needed and therefore technology is the door for the people to get into the economy, particularly the manufacturing and processing sector. The solution to the problem lies in creating opportunities for employment for the idle labour. The role of the government is the key to have the overall development.

This means that economic development is as much a political process as it is an economic process.

Present-Day India needs Ambedkar Economics in operation to resolve its structural issues. They cannot be resolved through market mechanism only. The government is liquidating the key sectors such as railways and health and insurance. The slowdown in the market is structural and it needs structural change and models that will disrupt the deep structures benefitting only a few.

Indian Economy needs deeper surgery and the surgeon who could do it is Doctor Ambedkar. Once again, this honourable doctor can rescue this country provided the government of the day gives up its Brahmin- Bania mentality and adopt the Indian mentality.

Author – Mangesh Dahiwale, Human Rights Activist

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