India has ranked 74 among 90 countries in the first-ever index on economic security prepared by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). India was placed above its neighbours Pakistan and Bangladesh, which ranked 84 and 88 respectively, but below China (58). The US, the global economic superpower, ranked 25, way behind countries such as Sweden (1), France (7), the UK (15) and Japan (18).The report ‘Economic security for a better world’, warned that increasing economic insecurity would soon grow into a global crisis. The findings have been calculated on the basis of an economic security index covering over 48,000 people and 10,000 enterprises, including India.The findings show that “only countries that provide a coherent set of policies that strengthen all seven forms of labour security (labour market, employment, job, work, skill, income and representation) have a high score.” Releasing the report, Delhi University vice-chancellor Deepak Nayyar said it was time for governments and policymakers to shift their attention from the bottomline to poverty line. He said globalisation had created unprecedented opportunities for a few but continued deprivation for many. While India and China had been recording economic growth, it could not be termed as egalitarian as far as a vast section of the people was concerned. The mandate in the recent elections in India was a pointer to this trend, he added.Guy Standing, the director of ILO’s socio-economic security programme said economic insecurity was one reason for growing stress and negative behavioural tendencies, like increasing social violence in the world. “Bombing and military options do not solve problems related to structural insecurity,” he said.
