Unorganized Labour In India

UNORGANIZED SECTOR

Unlike many developed countries and like several Asian countries a large part of the Indian labour is still in the unorganized sector. Many of them are the victims of what we call ‘Invisibility’. To implement any law first of all they (workers) should be aware of the law. Unless there are effective ways to implement and a proper system to punish those who breach the law, the laws won’t be effective at all. No matter how strict or advantageous it is. When we say unorganized labour, we are basically dealing with contract labours, sweepers, scavengers, tribal labours, labours employed in small scale industries such as handloom, power loom, beedi making etc. The number of labours in the agricultural and other unorganized sector

Home worker/Home based worker- These workers fall in the grey area i.e. between the employed and self-employed workers. There is no system to set the minimum wage for them. The article4 of the convention calls for the measures like promotion of right to equality for the home workers, proper training, protection against discrimination and safety during the work.

2. Domestic workers- These workers are present in both the urban and rural areas. The biggest issue is that there is no reliable estimate of the number of workers who fall under this category. According to the college of social work in Bombay 80% of the domestic workers are women. It is believed that domestic workers do not need any special skills and that is the main reason that they are exploited by their employer. They are not provided with enough food and they are paid so low that they can hardly buy proper clothes for them.

3. SEX workers- Being a sensible topic, people usually ignore this group of workers. Sexually transmitted disease such as AIDS is causing concern and anxiety in many countries. They workers need a regular health check-up from public hospitals. For that they need to be registered. Again we don’t have any reliable estimate of the number of workers; they could be in lakhs or even

Plantation workers- According to the plantation labour act of 1941 only those plantations which 15 or more persons are employed and which measures more than 5 hectares will fall under this act. It applies to only those workers who earn less than 750/- a month. Since plantation activity is performed in the open field workers are exposed to extreme weather conditions such as heavy rain, chilling winter and scorching sun.

5. Mines and Quarry workers- Any person who is employed in a mine as a manager or under the manager falls under this category. The working conditions of mines are full of hazards. There is always a chance of fir flooding, roof collapse and failure of ventilation. Lack of oxygen and presence of toxic gases such as carbon monoxide can cause severe