BJP has won a record mandate and December 12 will see the swearing-in of the new government with CM Bhupendra Patel set to return at the helm. So, what are the key issues he and his new government must address?
Noted economist Indira Hirve says, "The average daily wage of workers in Gujarat is the lowest in India. The wage is Rs 295.9 for daily workers when it is Rs. 837.7 in Kerala, Rs 478.6 in Tamil Nadu, Rs 519 in Jammu and Kashmir, Rs 462 in Himachal Pradesh, and even in Bihar it is Rs 328.3 and in Odisha (Orissa) it is Rs 313.8. “
"The share of informal unorganised workers in the total workforce is also much higher in Gujarat when compared to states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana, and most other states! This implies that workers in Gujarat are much less protected than workers in most other states," she told our correspondent Dilip Singh Kshatriya while discussing challenges the new government must address.
Hirve further explained that the "government has recently made Rs 8 lakh annual income the cutoff for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) calculations. At this rate, all unskilled and semi-skilled workers in Gujarat are poor, living much below the poverty line fixed by the government's own standard."
The growth rate of the state from 1980 to 2000 was 15%, and from 2001 to 2022, it was 8%, shared economist Hemant Kumar Shah.
He argued that, "Nowadays people are more concerned about visible development. People are mesmerized by the four- and six-lane state and national highways. If district roads are in poor condition, they are not bothered."
Pre-election agitations in recent months
* The teachers' agitation
* State Government Employees OPS protest
* Village Computer Entrepreneur employees’ stir
* Anganwadi worker agitation
* Protest by Forest guards
* Farmers and Bharatiya Kisan Sangh’s agitation
* Lok Rakshak Dal unreserved candidates’ agitation
* There is a separate agitation going on for the families of government employees regarding the compensation for their jobs
* Police families are protesting for police-grade pay
* Class 3 and 4 employees have joined the agitation over outstanding questions
* Agitation of midday meal workers
* Protests by contractual employees
* OPD doctors’ agitation continues
* Academic assistant candidates are agitating on the recruitment issue
* Protest of education assistant for recruitment
* Agitation of Home Guard and GISF on salary hike
* 'Pen-down' protest by current and former government employees