24 A Study of Women Labour in Unorganised Sector- In Indian Perspective Abhishek 1, Pankaj Tiwari 2 & Arvind Mishra 3 1Research Scholar, 2& 3 P.G. Students Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, Allahabad, abhishekmnitt@gmail.com Abstract Women constitute half of the world population, do two-thirds of the world s income and own less than hundredth of the world s property. In India 90% of women are employed in unorganized sector, without fair wage and standard of living. Domestic women laborers do get a paltry sum for the unpleasant work they perform. Some of them are exploited economically as well as physically. With the growth of industrialization & urbanization landless laborers in the absence of assured source of employment in rural areas migrate to urban areas in search of employment. In urban areas women s are generally employed in informal sectors like weaving, handicraft, tailoring, and sale of fish, agriculture laborers, domestic helpers and constructive activities. So an attempt has been made in this paper to understand the conditions of women laborers in unorganized sector. Keywords: Women Labor, Unorganized Employment, Gender Discrimination Introduction In India around thirty crore people are working in the unorganized sector and the number is on the rise. The meaning of unorganized sector, popularly known as unprotected sector, could be without regular source of income and working throughout the year. They constitute the fringes of society and are not getting a chance to be a part of the mainstream economy. Indian economy is to a great extent characterized by large number of people working in unorganized sectors as unorganized workers; transitional nature of the Indian economy, disparity in education, skill and training are some of the major factors abetting such a large concentration of workers in an area most vulnerable to exogenous economic vicissitudes. Women working in the unorganized sector deserve a separate mention as they are much marginalized. Women have always worked, albeit the definition of work if seen only through the prism of contribution to national input will mean different things to different people. Women, who might not be working in the narrow definition of work, are still engaged in socially productive and reproductive labor. It is observed that there VOL. 1 ISSUE 12 DEC. 2014 www.newmanpublication.com 179
is no legal protection system, bearing and rearing of children remains the first responsibility of women workers and there is not much help from the government and legal frame work of the country. Social security and sustained human development for workers of the unorganized sector are big question marks. A large percentage includes migrant workers. High rents and living expenses, low and irregular salaries, unequal wages for male and female workers, no overtime payment, no standard daily working hours, no public holiday and no prior notice for dismissal from work constitute some of their trials. The vendors face problems like dependence on money lenders, lack of dignity, and delay in payments, underemployment, and violence against employees, oppression and maltreatment by local authorities. Poor relations between the employers and employees, discrimination at work, sexual harassment, poor health/medical care and denial of terminal benefits, torture and poor working conditions echo the common plight of workers in almost all spheres of this sector. The Unorganized Sector Organized sector workers are distinguished by regular salaried jobs with well-defined terms and conditions of employment, clear-cut rights and obligations and fairly comprehensive social security protection. The unorganized sector, on the other hand, has no such clear-cut employeremployee relationships and lacks most forms of social protection. Having no fixed employer, these workers are casual, contractual, migrant, home based, own-account workers who attempt to earn a living from whatever meager assets and skills they possess. The First Indian National Commission on Labor (1966-69) defined unorganized sector workforce as those workers who have not been able to organize themselves in pursuit of their common interest dues to certain constraints like casual nature of employment, ignorance and illiteracy, small and scattered size of establishments. Unorganized Employment includes: Own-account workers working in their own informal enterprise Own-account worker producing goods exclusively for own final use by their household. Contributing family workers, irrespective of whether they work in formal or informal sector enterprises Members of informal producers cooperatives Employees holding informal jobs, whether employed by formal sector enterprises, informal sector enterprises or as domestic worker employed by households Segment of unorganized sector Wage work for informal enterprises Domestic work without a regular contract Casual day labour without a fixed employer Unregistered or undeclared work for formal or informal firms Temporary and part-time work for formal firms VOL. 1 ISSUE 12 DEC. 2014 www.newmanpublication.com 180
Examples Agriculture: landless labourers, small farmers, traditional artisans, animal husbandry Industry: workers in brick-kilns, construction, Beedi-making, incense stick Services: workers in local transport, shops, domestic servants, community services like street cleaning, street vendors, garbage collectors Small Workshops: shoe makers, garment makers and embroiderers At Home: garment workers artisans or craft producers On Rivers, Ponds, Lakes, and Oceans: fishermen, shippers Unorganized Employment Employees are considered in unorganized employment when their employment relationship, in law or practice, is not subject to: National labor legislation Income taxation Social protection or Entitlement to certain employment benefits e.g. paid annual leave, sick leave, etc. Industrial Category Table-1: Estimates of Employment in India No. of persons (in millions) Formal Sector Agriculture 1.39 238.87 Non-Agriculture 26.68 131.5 Mining & Quarrying 1.01 1.25 Manufacturing 6.71 37.07 Electricity, Gas And Water 1 0.04 Construction 1.17 16.36 Trade, Hotels And Restaurants 0.49 40.37 Transport, Storage & Comm. 3.15 11.48 Financial Services 1.65 3.29 Community Services 11.49 21.64 Informal Sector All Sectors 28.07 (93%) 370.37 Source: NSSO (Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation) VOL. 1 ISSUE 12 DEC. 2014 www.newmanpublication.com 181
Table-2: Urban Labour ForceCharacteristics Table-3:Rural Labour Force characteristics Urban Share (in percentage) Male Female Total 4. Not counted in the labour force 30.3 53.9 41.7 1. Employed 51.8 13.9 33.7 2. Unemployed 2.4 0.8 1.6 3. Labour Force (1+2) 54.2 14.7 35.3 4. Not counted in the labour force 32.8 71.7 51.4 5. Working age population (3+4) 84.3 84.1 84.2 6. Non-working age population 15.7 15.9 15.8 7. Population (5+6) 100 100 100 5. Working age population (3+4) 87 86.4 86.7 6. Nonworking age population 13 13.6 13.3 7. Population (5+6) 100 100 100 Rural Share (in percentage) Male Female Total 1. Employed 53.1 29.9 41.9 2. Unemployed 0.9 0.3 0.6 3. Labour Force (1+2) 54 30.2 42.5 VOL. 1 ISSUE 12 DEC. 2014 www.newmanpublication.com 182
Source: NSSO (Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation) Women Worker in Unorganized Sector A woman is identified as a daughter, sister, mother, a wife, a daughter-in-law but never as an independent person. To be born as a woman means to live from early infancy to the last day of life. Almost 400 million people (more than 85% of the working population in India) work in unorganized sector and of these about 120 million are women. According to an estimate, by the National Commission on Self-Employed Women (1988a), of the total number of women workers in India, about 94 percent are in the informal or unorganized sector whereas just 6 percent are in the organized or formal sector. Thus there is no exaggeration in saying that the unorganized sector in India is the women s sector. Though women are entering the work force, they are least recognised as workers many a times. A large number of women work without pay. A significant proportion of women are self-employed which means they are engaged in informal work. They have poor working conditions and they lack social security. There is inequality within this informal work. Women are disproportionately represented and they occupy lower quality jobs within the self-employment. In the case of highly but the gender pay gap still persists due to the inequality and the lack of anti-discrimination laws. Indian society has got a significant role in the increasing number of women workers in the informal economy. There are regional, religious, social and economic groups which are independent of each other. Indian society is hierarchical with everyone rankedaccording to their caste, class, wealth and power. In addition to that, home-based work etc. is not accounted in the statistics. In addition to that, women are traditionally responsible for the daily household chores. As a result of the cultural and other restrictions more and more women are involved informal work than in the formal work, where the jobs are unskilled and low-paying with little benefits. Problems and Challenges Studies conducted in several parts of the country indicate the awful conditions of the women workers in these sectors. The women workers face a number of difficulties such as, in many cases, they are not considered as workers which make their income very low when linked to the earnings of the male workers. Often they are considered as workers which are out-of-date and low skilled according to the requirements of the market. They also have to take care of their children at home and at the same time have to work to support their families. In fact, they are doing double the amount of work and paid less than half when compared with their male counter parts. The women who are engaged in domestic work and street vending face difficulties such as sexual harassment and abusive language. Domestic workers have to work in three to five houses per day without any bonus or overtime. They face sexual harassment and many a times their working conditions are very bad. Migrant domestic workers face such difficulties in a more intense manner. Sometimes the recruiting agents compel the women to engage in sex work. Also they are paid very less and due to the lack of bargaining power, they are not in a position to demand more. They are replaced frequently, in case of better wage demands, as they are in VOL. 1 ISSUE 12 DEC. 2014 www.newmanpublication.com 183
surplus in the market. There are still cases where women workers are neglected of the benefits and facilities like equal payment vis-à-vis their male counterparts, maternity benefits, proper child care services and indifferent attitude of the employers towards women workers. Research shows that women and girls, who tend to work harder than men, are more likely to invest their earnings in their children. Table-4: Profile of Women Workers in the Informal Sector Sector/Group Reasons for a particular Employment Rag Pickers Domestic Workers Coolies Vendors Unskilled, Drunkard/Non coopering Husbands, Only job available near residence Unskilled, Drunkard/Non coopering Husbands Unskilled, Drunkard/Non coopering Husbands find the pride in being self-employed,, Unskilled Priority Issues Wages Organising Challenges Health & Safety, End to exploitation by middlemen Recognition as worker, better living conditions, protection against dismissal Identifying employer, end to exploitation by middlemen Facilitiesstorage, shelter, water, protection against police, toilet, Per Kilogram (Commission) Negotiable Competition among selves, fear of losing work, Not protected by labour law Isolated & invisible in homes, Fear of employers & losing jobs, Not protected by labour laws Contractual Often in scattered location, dominated by men in sector, child care and home care Uncertain Not regarded as workers by selves and others, No forums for bargaining VOL. 1 ISSUE 12 DEC. 2014 www.newmanpublication.com 184
Beauticians Construction Labour Garment Workers Find the pride of being self-employed, helping hand to husband, savings for children's higher education No other skills, Drunkard/non cooperating husband, No other options Can work at home harassment, safety security Excessive overtime, lack institutional support Identifying employer, VOL. 1 ISSUE 12 DEC. 2014 www.newmanpublication.com 185 & of end to exploitation by middlemen Living right to organise, excessive overtime, security employment wage, Source: NSSO Survey, GOI, Ministry of Labour & Employment Conclusion of Uncertain, Net Profit basis Lack of time, child care and home care, health issues Daily wages Often in scattered location, dominated by men in sector, child care and home care Work based (Commission) Women workers are seen as "seasonal", "supplementary wage earners, Harassment of trade unions No doubt, there are laws to protect women and prevent exploitation but these laws (the Interstate Migrant Workmen Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service Act, 1979, The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 and Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 etc.),and legislations are not practically and strictly implemented. The very vastness of the country, the scattered nature of women workers, their lack of education and legal literacy, the indifferent attitude of the government-bureaucracy and the general status of women in society caused vulnerability to women. It is the need of the hour that government and Non-Government Organizations must come forward to actively and efficiently deal with the plight of these women. The Trade Unions and Voluntary Organizations can play a vital role in making them conscious of health, education and above all their rights. Women should be provided education and training to enhance their
sense of self-worth and self-esteem and to enlighten them regarding their right to good health. Therefore a credible employment strategy needs to focus to enhance educational level of the workers, social status of workers including women, specific industries that can absorb a higher proportion of males and females and creation of quality job. References i. V. Gandotra and S.Patel, (ed.),(2009) Women, Working Conditions and Efficiency, New Delhi. ii. H.L. Kaila, Women, Work and Family, New Delhi, 2005. iii. A. Widge, Women in the Informal Sector: Multi disadvantages of Domestic Workers, New Delhi, 1995. IV. Neha Mittal, Women Workers in Unorganized Sector: Socio- Perspective, Rajasthan, August 2012. v. Kamala Kanta Mohapatra,(2012)Women Workers in Informal Sector in India: Understanding the Occupational Vulnerability, Orissa,November 2012 vi. Report of the Committee on Unorganised Sector Statistics, National Statistical Commission, GOI, and February2012. VOL. 1 ISSUE 12 DEC. 2014 www.newmanpublication.com 186