While India draws
attention for being the second-fastest growing economy in the world,
workers in the unorganised sector continue to be denied basic
facilities, says a government study.
In a first-ever initiative to quantify the contribution of more than
340 million (close to 93 per cent) workers in the country’s unorganised
sector, a study conducted by the National Commission for Enterprises in
the Unorganised Sector (nceus), under the Union ministry of small-scale
industry, reveals that close to half of the workers are engaged in the
construction industry.
“From road construction to domestic help, they work long hours for less
than the minimum wage, receive no compensation for work-related
injuries and there are no measures for their social security either,”
says the study.
NCEUS, an advisory body, was created on September 2004 under the
chairmanship of Arjun Sengupta, member, Planning Commission. It was set
up to suggest measures for providing basic social security measures to
workers in the unorganised sector.
“Most of the social security measures are targeted for workers in the
organised sector. There is no political lobby for providing basic
minimum social security to workers in the unorganised sector, who
contribute significantly to economic growth,” says economist Amirullah
Khan.
NCEUS has suggested creation of a national level fund for financing
welfare programmes for unorganised sector workers.
The Planning Commission has recently recommended that smart cards be
issued to them so that they can avail basic social security schemes.
“We support any initiative towards providing basic minimum social
security to unorganised sector workers but the critical issue is linked
to identifying the beneficiaries where the government has failed
measurably,” says Anil Bhardwaj, secretary general, Federation of
Indian Micro and Small and Medium Enterprises, an industry body.
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