Press Release: India must revive Ambedkar’s commitment to economic justice

By Aditi Singh

As a student who engages deeply with questions of equality, justice, and the constitutional vision of India, I find it necessary to examine the current economic direction of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) through the framework offered by Dr B.R. Ambedkar. Ambedkar envisioned an India where political democracy would be incomplete without social and economic democracy. His proposals for state socialism, public ownership of key industries, land reforms, and collective agriculture were not abstract ideals but concrete safeguards meant to prevent wealth concentration and protect vulnerable communities. When evaluated against this vision, the BJP’s policies of privatization and deregulation appear fundamentally misaligned with Ambedkar’s aspirations for an egalitarian society.

Privatization—particularly of essential sectors like railways, energy, health, and education—poses a direct threat to the idea of equal access. When public resources are handed over to private corporations, the logic of profit replaces the logic of social welfare. Ambedkar warned that leaving critical industries in private hands would inevitably strengthen a small capitalist class while weakening the bargaining power of labour. Today, we see the consequences: public services grow costlier, job security declines, and the wealth gap widens at an alarming rate. Instead of decentralizing opportunities, privatization centralizes power in boardrooms far removed from the everyday struggles of workers, farmers, and marginalized communities.

Deregulation operates in a similar vein. Under the banner of “ease of doing business”, labour protections, environmental regulations, and agricultural safeguards have been diluted. These measures disproportionately harm those already on the margins, especially Dalits, Adivasis, and landless workers. Ambedkar argued that the state must actively intervene to correct structural inequalities; deregulation, however, represents a retreat of the state from precisely those responsibilities. By withdrawing protections and loosening corporate accountability, the government essentially leaves the vulnerable to fend for themselves in an unequal market.

Support for the wealthy has become a defining feature of the current model. Tax concessions, loan write-offs, favourable corporate laws, and large public contracts routinely benefit major industrial groups. Ambedkar cautioned against the fusion of economic and political power, understanding that such concentration could undermine democracy itself. The rise of oligopolies in retail, telecom, infrastructure, and agriculture reflects that very danger. When a handful of corporations dominate entire sectors, competition diminishes, workers lose leverage, and citizens become increasingly dependent on private entities whose priorities rarely align with public welfare.

In this context, the women’s question becomes central. Ambedkar consistently foregrounded the liberation of women as inseparable from social progress. Yet privatization has uniquely gendered consequences. Women constitute a large portion of informal labour, where job security, maternity benefits, and wage protections depend heavily on state regulation. As these protections erode, women become more vulnerable to exploitation. Privatization of healthcare and education places an additional financial burden on families, and women—often responsible for caregiving—bear the brunt of this stress. Furthermore, when public institutions weaken, patriarchal norms tighten their grip, pushing women back into unpaid domestic labour.

Ambedkar believed that women’s emancipation required not only legal rights but also material conditions that allow them to participate in the public sphere. A market-driven economy that prioritizes corporate interest over citizen welfare undermines those material conditions. True empowerment demands accessible public transport, affordable education, social security, and dignified employment—rights that flourish under a robust welfare state, not under relentless privatization.

An Ambedkarite economic vision urges us to reimagine the role of the state as a guarantor of equality rather than a facilitator of corporate dominance. Public ownership of essential industries ensures that basic services remain accessible to all. Strong labour protections create secure and dignified jobs. Land reforms empower rural communities, and collective agriculture promotes food security and shared prosperity. These principles are not outdated; they are urgently relevant to India’s present.

If our democracy is to remain meaningful, we must revive Ambedkar’s commitment to economic justice. Only then can India move toward a future where prosperity is shared, dignity is universal, and women and marginalized communities stand not on the margins of development but at its very centre.