International Labour Day : Plight of the Unorganised Labour in India
Another May Day has come and gone. Given the changing circumstances Manavadhikar Samajik Manch (MASM) finds it worth evaluating the conditions of work and the quality of working life of the unorganized labor force. It is estimated that the workers in the unorganized sector constitute more than ninety-four per cent of the total employment in the country. On account of their unorganized nature, these workers do not get adequate social security. The unorganized sector consists of causal and contributiug family workers; self employed persons in un-organized sector and private households; and other employed in organized and unorganized enterprises that are not eligible either for paid, sick or annual leave or for any social security benefits given by the employer. The unorganized workforce works in almost every conceivable situation, along with their families. They do agricultural labour in season, and are artisans, bead-loaders and construction workers. They sweat in brick-kilns and quarries, glass-or brassware operations. They toil for more than eight hours at a stretch, yet they do not have either weekend holidays or social-security benefits.
According to the National Sample Survey Organization Report of 1999-2000, workers in the unorganized sector in India total 369 million; the corresponding figure in the organized sector is just 28 million. Within this category of unorganized work, those employed in agriculture take the lion's share at 237 million; construction numbers 17 million; manufacturing activities, 41 million; and 37 million each in trade and transport, and communication and services. As per another estimate about 40 crore Indian citizens engaged in informal work are faced with the systematic, historical and institutional denial of constitutional and legislative rights at work. This is not accidental. Informal workers fail to benefit from labour legislation because the scope of almost all labour laws is restricted by way of exclusions and strict definitions of the type of employment, the area, the size and nature of the 'establishment' etc. Labour laws fail informal workers first by inadequately regulating employment, and where such regulation exists, by excluding them through its poorly thought out definitions.
They constitute the bulk of the workforce in independent India but are rarely written about. They are not on any list, register or muster roll. They are the anonymous contributors to the national income. They are, in short, the survivors of the other India at work invisible to the glitzy, high tech environs of the new India-on-the-move. Unorganized-sector workers contribute nearly 45% of the national income, and produce nearly 40% of industrial products. And their ranks are growing. in accordance with the omnipresent emphasis on short-term contractual employment.
With the advancement of technology, the fragmentation of work has allowed for a separate activity to be carried out in different places. The necessity of using skilled labour has also decreased, as each task can comprise of simple operations that can be performed by non-regular workers. For instance over 50% of bangle production is done at homes by women and children-indicating the clear cost-advantage to the employer. Firozabad, in Uttar Pradesh, is famous for its bangle production an unorganized-sector industry that is more than 200 years old. Here, workers used to learn on the job, working for free until they acquired the necessary of recruitment or training. Even significant amount of the furnace-related activity was done manually, although now motors ensure that workers produce more in eight hours than they used to in twelve.
Existing Programmes: Dream Merchants.
The Government is implementing various social security schemes/ programmes for workers in the unorganized sector like Swarnjayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana; Sampoorna Grameen Rojgar Yojana; Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yajana; Handloom Weavers' Comprehensive Welfare Schemes, Handicraft Artisans' Comprehensive Welfare Schemes, Janshree Bima Yojana etc. through different Ministries/Departments. The allocation is made separately for the respective schemes under respective Ministries/Departments. There is no consolidated allocation of funds for social security schemes for unorganized sector workers. During 2007-08, the Government announced three more schemes which are as under: The 'Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana', formally launched on 01.10.2008, provides for smart card based cashless health insurance cover of Rs. 30,000/-to the BPL workers and their families (a unit of five). Under the "Aam Admi Bima Yojana", Rural Landless households between the age group of the 18 to 59 years are eligible for death and disability cover under the scheme. The scheme has component of awarding scholarship to two children of the beneficiaries studying in 9th to 12th standard @ Rs. 300/per quarter per child. Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme provides for old age pension to all citizens above the age of 65 years and living below the poverty line. The States Governments have been asked to top up Central Government per capita grant of Rs. 200/. The funds are allocated for different social security schemes keeping in view the target and availability of resources.
However the benefits of all these programmes are yet to reach the people for whom the programmes are designed. The current clamour for further liberalization of labour laws then comes as a cruel joke at the expense of the country's informal workers.
While the government abdicates its responsibility by facetiously arguing that there is not yet sufficient wealth to distribute, the institutionalization of a dual labour market, one protected and the other unprotected, further. Reduces the chances of unorganised workers gaining a share of the wealth that they generate. Worst affected by this deliberate denial are those who already experience a historic denial -Dalits, Adivasis and women. It's a strange tolerance of work without rights, sustained hunger and endemic malnutrition. These dynamics have killed the aspects of 'social' and 'rights' in the provision of social security. The 'social' in social security is when the state and the earning workers contribute to the 'risk pool' of not only those contributing but also families of workers and non-workers. Contrast it with the recent schemes, which are occupation specific, offering limited benefits; and the social security systems of the organized sector workers, which in effect make a separation of a group of workers from the rest. A 'right' is something that all human beings are entitled to for a life with dignity. Instead, recent schemes are framed as benevolent largesse, rather than affirmations of the rights of people as citizens.
The Unorganized Sector Workers' Social Security Bill, 2007:
There is a huge deficit in the coverage of the unorganized sector workers in the matter of labour protection and social security measures ensuring the welfare and well-being of workers in the unorganized sector, such as agricultural workers, construction workers, beedi workers, handloom workers, leather workers, etc. It has been a long-standing demand of trade unions, voluntary organizations that comprehensive legislation is required to cover unorganized-sector workers. Little, however, has emerged so far. The recommendations of the second National Labour Commission, constituted by the previous National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government did not come out with any concrete provision for guaranteed minimum wage, social security or employment regulation. In fact, it was not until around the eve of the national elections in 2004 that the NDA government finally floated a social security scheme whose coverage, while not grossly inadequate, was found wanting.
The proposed Unorganized Sector Workers' Social Security Bill, 2007 aims to provide for social security and welfare of the unorganized sector workers and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
The Bill, inter alia, provides for the following matters, namely: - (i) The Central Government shall constitute a National Social Security Advisory Board to recommend suitable welfare schemes for different sections of unorganized sector workers, and upon consideration of these recommendations, the Central Government may notify suitable welfare schemes relating to life and disability cover, health and maternity benefits, old age protection, or any other benefits. (ii) The State Government shall constitute the State Social Security Advisory Board to recommend suitable welfare schemes for different sections of unorganized workers in that State and the State Government may notify suitable schemes for one or more sections of the unorganised workers. (iii) A worker of an unorganised sector shall be eligible for social security benefits if, he is duly registered. Every registered worker in the unorganised sector shall be issued an identity card which shall be a smart card carrying a unique identification number and shall be portable. (iv) The Central Government and the State Government shall have the power to make rules for the purposes of carrying out the objects of the Bill.
It needs to be mentioned here that the Unorganised Sector Workers' Social Security Bill, 2007" introduced in the Rajya Sabha on 10 September 2007. Owing to stiff resistance from trade unions and other civil society organizations, this Bill was referred by the Lok Sabha Speaker to the Standing Committee on Labour chaired by CPIMP Sudhakar Reddy on September 20, 2007. Though the Sudhakar Committee submitted its report in November 2007, the Ministry of Labour is yet to act on it, showing either a lack of seriousness, or a more ominous strategic silence on the part of the government.
Conclusion:
While we talk about the plight of unorganized labor class, we find it humiliating on the part of all the human rights activist of this country that the fulfillment of the Post-Independence Socialistic Constitutional guarantees of equality of status and opportunity and right to live with human dignity coupled with promises of adequate means of livelihood and living wage, is nowhere in sight. No wonder, this large chunk of population languish below poverty line (BPL). Worst affected among the unorganized labor are those who under the force circumstances of abject poverty, migrate to seek casual employment in other States, where they are engaged as cheap labor to perform backbreaking manual work in inhuman conditions and in flagrant violation of legally prescribed working hours, overtime, rest days and wage payment. According to the Manav Adhikar Samajik Manch, (MASM) this constitutes the main issue, if not the only issue, before the State, as it is adversely affecting the economy of the State and constantly denying the basic human rights to the major chunk of our population. While working with the unorganized laborers, we identified the following issues that they are confronting with:
- Non-availability of work.
- Financial constraints.
- Non-arrangement for skill development training regularly.
- Non-payment of minimumı wages.
- Non-implementation of supportıive policies.
- Conflict with private contractors.
- Lack of cooperation from other cooperatives.
- Weak organizational set up.
- Victims of the moneylenders.
We pledge upon the Government of India to take up the cause of unorganized labor class immediately and guarantee them their lawful right of life.
HT Burea, Human Touch Magazine, May 2008 |
