(April 30, 2008) (April 30, 2008) God is active in the creation as he is the Creator
of the universe and everything in it and therefore all of us are called to be active,
giving the maximum of our lives to the world and the people around us, said Bishop
Joshua Mar Ignathios Bishop of Mavelikara, and Chairman, CBCI Labour Commission.
He was giving the May Day Message at New Delhi on the eve of the celebration of the
workers day on May first. On this May Day 2008, remembering St. Joseph, the worker,
he invited all to model their lives in the pattern of St. Joseph, the Worker and called
all workers to be proud of their work, in the establishment of the Kingdom of God
here on earth. The Bishop then lauded the rapid progress made by India over the last
sixty years. He said that our nation has achieved this, as the outcome of the relentless
hard work of India’s class scientists, engineers, journalists, soldiers, bureaucrats,
politicians, doctors, judges, missionaries and visionaries. But he regretted that
sometimes we fail to remember the millions of workers in the unorganized sector, without
whom we would not have achieved such progress. Speaking on Globalization and the
resultant liberalization the Indian economy has become prosperous but the adverse
effect of this economic prosperity which is based on evidence, proved that, workers,
who are equally partners in the development, are not partaking in this boom adequately,
he added. There is yet another segment of disadvantaged workers such as agricultural
workers, seasonal migrants, child labourers and bonded labourers, who constitute the
grass root level of working class in the country, need to be recognised said the prelate.
Poverty, hunger and lack of basic resources remain as major issues for vast majority,
he added. Speaking on the closure of three million of small scale units and loss of
1.8 corers of jobs due to Globalization, retrenchment of five million of workers from
Public Sector Units has affected the labour class he said. Emphasising the role of
the Church, Bishop Mar Ignathios said that the Church of India is known to have rendered
yeomen service in the field of education, healthcare and development. But the Church
has to go a long way when it comes to the field of the working class, especially those
in the unorganized sector, said the prelate.