Employment Policy & Labour Welfare in India

As in other developing countries, unemployment is a serious problem of the Indian economy. The poverty of the masses in India is closely related to the problem of unemployment. Hence, expansion of employment opportunities has been an important objective of development planning in India. There has been a significant growth in employment during successive Five Year Plans. However, a relatively higher growth of population and labour force has led to an increase in the volume of unemployment from one plan period to another. Consistent with the approach for an employment-centred development strategy, public employment programmes are an integral part of planning and policy, the important ones being the following: Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005; Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) and Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rojgar Yojana (SJSRY). According to the final report of the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector (NCEUS) [Chairman: Arjun Sengupta] released in April 2009, workers in the unorganised (or informal) sector constitute more than 93 percent of the total workforce of India. Unorganised sector workers are those who do not have any job security, income security or social security and are therefore extremely vulnerable to exogenous shocks. Agricultural workers constitute by far the largest segment in the unorganized sector. They are extremely vulnerable to exploitation on account of low level of literacy, lack of awareness, persistent social backwardness and absence of unionisation and other forms of viable organisation. Further, the high rates of migration, because of the seasonality of operations and lack of stability of employment, subject them to all sorts of hazards and exploitation. Similarly, society being male-dominated, female labour receives very poor recognition or value in India. Although the Constitution of India provides equal rights and opportunities to both the genders - and there are specific provisions for protection and welfare of working women in many of the labour laws - yet most of these statutes do not cover the units in small and informal sectors which are the predominant workplaces of women. The problems of child labourers are more complex and intertwined with the twin issues of poverty and lack of access to quality school education. It is also not rare to find situations when a child worker is a migrant and bonded to the employer. The susceptibility of such child workers to exploitation is the greatest. This book provides a comprehensive account of employment and labour related policies and issues in India. It covers the following areas: demographic trends, unemployment estimates, employment policies and programmes, labour laws, social security, unorganised sector workers, agricultural workers and forced/bonded labourers, women workers, child labour, industrial sickness, industrial relations and Indian labour in relation to ILO, WTO and globalisation.