At a time when the State is forced to takeover loss-making private and public private partnership ventures once instituted as citizen services, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) aims at letting multi national corporations take over Indian labour laws, opined civil society stakeholders at a public meet organised in the city.
In India, Delhi metro line to international airport had to be de-privatised as the PPP venture failed. Similarly, privatisation of electricity distribution in States including Odisha and Delhi had failed as private companies could not make profits. Privatisation of water supply in Delhi and Mumbai were stalled because of public outrage, opponents of the RCEP pointed out.
The RCEP, a mega free trade agreement is expected to include Investor-State-Dispute-Settlement Mechanism (ISDS) that allows foreign companies to challenge policies and judicial decisions in secret arbitration cases. Also, private companies will be empowered to challenge the democratically elected government’s mandates.
In a workshop organised on Public Services and Corporate power, the RCEP opponents asked Union Government not to override public interest. “If public sector is replaced with private sector, essential resources in a growing economy including water, healthcare and sanitation will become commodified. Unlike the Government which works for people’s welfare, private companies are profit-oriented and they can withdraw from providing a service the moment it is found loss-making,” explained Gauri Das a public sector employee who attended the last day of protest meet in the city.
The RCEP prevents governments of signatory countries from instituting laws including minimum wages. If found in violation of the treaty, private companies including MNCs which are allowed to set shop in India can sue the Government for infringing their profits.
In the past, Veolia a French company had sued Egypt for increasing minimum wages.
“For most developing world governments the law suits could prove to be costly. Moreover, trade unions which fight for labour rights can completely be abolished,” said Lakshmi Vaidyanathan of Public Services International.
If the RCEP goes through, India should ensure an upper hand for the government sector, she added.
India signed its first Free Trade Agreement in 1998 with Sri Lanka, followed by agreements with several countries including South Korea, Japan and blocs including Association of South East Asian Nations.