Question

“The impact of globalisation has not been uniform.” Explain this statement.

Answer 1

Fair globalisation means the benefits of globalisation are shared in a better way and there are better opportunities for all. However, globalisation has not benefited everyone.

• The best use of new opportunities thrown open by globalization, were done by people with better skills, wealth and education.
• On the other hand, there are plenty of people who have not received similar benefits.

Industries Negatively Impacted in India – Due to Globalisation

• In India, next to agriculture, the small industries employ the largest number of workers (20 million).
• Due to competition, small manufacturers have been hit hard and some examples of such industries are vegetable oil, dairy products, tyres, toys, plastics, capacitors, batteries.
• Many workers went jobless as several of the units had to be shut down.

Industries Positively Impacted in India – Due to Globalisation

• For companies in the services sector many new opportunities were created due to Globalization, particularly in the IT industry.
• Different types of services such as engineering, accounting, administrative tasks, data entry are now being done cheaply in countries such as India and are exported to the developed countries.
• Globalisation has enabled some large Indian companies to emerge as multinationals themselves, and they are spreading their operations worldwide, some of the examples of such companies are Ranbaxy (medicines), Asian Paints (paints), Infosys (IT), Tata Motors (automobiles), Sundaram Fasteners (nuts and bolts).
• MNCs have shown keen interest in industries such as banking in urban areas, fast food, soft drinks, automobiles, cell phones, electronics.
• Many new jobs have been created in the services and industries mentioned above. Raw materials are supplied to these companies by the local companies, which in turn allows these local companies to prosper.
• India has been beneficial for MNCs which can be seen from the rising investments spread over the past 20 years.

Government Role – To Make Impact of Globalisation Uniform

• To have a uniform impact of globalization, the governments can play a major role.
• Protecting all the people of the country and not just the powerful and rich should be the objectives of Governments.
• Governments can assure workers of their rights by making sure that labour laws are implemented.
• Till the time small producers can grow and compete, Governments can think about supporting them through various measures.
• For rules which are fair, Governments can negotiate with WTO and even use investment and trade barriers.
• At WTO, to prevent the domination of developed countries, Governments of developing countries can cooperate with each other.
• At WTO many important decisions regarding investment and trade have been influenced by massive campaigns and presentations by people’s organisations. Hence even people can play a positive role.