Labour Issues in India Presented By Naina Gupta16
Labour Issues in India Presented By: Naina Gupta(16) Namita Sarmah (17) Namrata Mahanta (18) Mukund Agarwal (46) Nehal Todi (47) Copyright- youth ki awaaz Centre for Management Studies Dibrugarh University Session: 2019 -2021
CONTENTS • • • • What is labour? Introduction to labour problem Labour problems with reference to India Labour Market and Employment Conditions in India Rise of labour problems in India Factors involved in the growth of labour production in India Labour problems of agricultural labour Labour problems of child labour Labour problems of female labour Labour laws Reformation of labour laws Trade unions in India Suggestion to solve the problems Measures Taken by the Government Conclusion
WHAT IS LABOUR? • Labour is a factor of production can be viewed as a primary factor. • Labour is the human factor of production and it refers to the supply of human efforts, may they be mental or physical or manual. • Labour is made available for producing the goods and services in return for a reward in the form of wages. • Labour is a the only living factor of production and that really makes all the difference between labour legislation or analyzing the labour problems.
Introduction • India has witnessed an impressive GDP growth rate of over 6 per cent since the 1980 s. Growth has been particularly rapid since the post reform period of the 1990 s. • The structure of the labour market, patterns of employment growth, and labour-market institutions play an important role in shaping development patterns and outcomes. However, there is a lack of analytical documentation on these issues.
Labour problems with reference to India • Employers only paid their attention to the maintenance of machine. • Workers were illiterate and poor and unconscious of this rights. • The employer forcefully dictated their own term and condition with regard to wages, hours of works, leave etc. • Weak bargaining power of labours. • Lack of resources for labour for their livelihood in the absence of wage. • Employers try to maximize profits by cutting down laborers because machines were making the production process • Lack of proper hygiene and sanitation to the laborers.
Labour Market and Employment Conditions in India • Today, India is counted among the most important emerging economies of the world but employment conditions in the country still remain poor. • Overall, labour-force to population ratio (in the age group 15 years and above) at 56 per cent is low in India compared to nearly 64 per cent for the rest of the world. • An overwhelmingly large percentage of workers (about 92 per cent) are engaged in informal employment and a large majority of them have low earnings with limited or no social protection. This is true for a substantial proportion of workers in the organized sector as well. About 18 per cent of those employed are regular workers, and amongst them less than 8 per cent have regular, full-time employment with social protection. • Levels of education and professional and vocational skills are extremely low.
Labour Market and Employment Conditions in India • There is considerable regional differentiation in access to good quality employment. A preliminary Employment Situation Index (ESI) prepared for this Report shows that generally workers in the southern and western states of India have much better access to good quality employment than do workers in states in the central and eastern regions. • There is considerable segmentation in the labour market in terms of forms of employment, sector, location, region, gender, caste, religion, tribe, etc. In spite of increased mobility over the years, acute dualism and sometimes fragmentation persists in the labour market. There is a great deal of movement between places of residence and work, and rural-to-rural and rural-to-urban migration is substantial, especially in terms of circular and temporary migration. • Women in general are disadvantaged in the labour market. • As is typical for a poor and developing economy, most workers in India cannot afford to be unemployed, hence the level of open unemployment is quite low at 2. 7 per cent. In reality, the problem is not primarily one of unemployment but lack of productive employment
RISE OF LABOUR PROBLEMS IN INDIA • The emergence growth and of labour problems is an outcome of the growth of modern industries. Obviously in the developing countries today, the labour problems emerged late. At present, about 16% of world population living in advance countries, enjoys 82. 5% of world's income. This disparity in income distributed is so alarming! • Under the British Raj, Indian initiative and enterprise were systematically suppressed because the British rulers wanted India to remain source of raw materials for and a market for finished products of the British industries. • Besides the problems related to income, working conditions and social security, which are general or universal, there arose problems which are specific to India.
FACTORS INVOLVED IN THE GROWTH OF LABOUR PRODUCTION IN INDIA 1. Declining importance of Agriculture 2. Systems of land tenure 3. Sub-division and fragmentation of holdings 4. High rate of population growth 5. Social disparity and diversity 6. Regional imbalance in development 7. Socio-cultural factors 8. Decline of rural industries 9. Lack of state support 10. Policy failures
Labour Market Performance and Employment Outcomes in the Last Three Decades • • • Labour markets have witnessed significant changes in two decades since the economic reforms, which started in the 1990 s. There are both negative and positive aspects to these changes. Some major concerns that have emerged from the analyses. There has been increasing informalization of the workforce. A noteworthy trend has been the decline in the work participation of females during 2005 -12. The employment of women remains 20 to 40 per cent below that of men. Labour market inequalities are large and disparities and inequalities have generally increased. The gap between per-worker earnings in agriculture and non-agriculture has considerably widened and now stands at a ratio of 1: 6. The share of wages in total value-added in manufacturing has been declining consistently. The increasing ‘informalization’ of employment has gradually eroded the strength of trade unions. It is also evident from the sharp decline in the percentage of workdays lost due to strikes, alongside considerable increase in the incidence of closures.
PROBLEMS OF AGRICULTURE LABOUR: • • Marginalization of Agricultural Workers Wages and Income Employment and Working Conditions. Indebtedness Low Wages for women in Agricultural Labour. High Incidence of Child Labour Increase in Migrant Labour
Marginalization of Agricultural Workers • The workforce in agriculture (cultivators plus agricultural labourers) was 97. 2 million in 1951 and this rose to 185. 2 million in 1991. • The number of agricultural labourers rose from 27. 3 million in 1951 to 74. 6 million in 1991. • This implies that the number of agricultural labourers increased by almost three times over the period from 1951 to 1991
Wages and Income • Agricultural wages and family incomes of agricultural workers are very low in India. • With the advent of the Green Revolution, money wage rates started increasing. • As prices also increased considerably, the real wage rates did not increase accordingly. • Currently labours are getting very less under the MGNREGA in rural areas.
Employment and Working Conditions. • The agricultural labourers have to face the problems of unemployment and underemployment. • For a substantial part of the year, they have to remain unemployed because there is no work on the farms and alternative sources of employment do not exist.
Indebtedness • In the absence of banking system in the rural areas and trial process of sanction by the commercial banks, farmers prefers to take loans from un institutional sources like Sahukars (moneylenders), landlords at the very high rate (in some cases at 40% to 50%). This exorbitant rate traps in the vicious circle of debt.
Low Wages for women in Agricultural Labour. • Female agricultural workers are generally forced to work harder and paid less than their male counterparts.
High Incidence of Child Labour • Incidence of child labour is high in India and the estimated number varies from 17. 5 million to 44 million. • It is estimated that one-third of the child workers in Asia are in India.
Increase in Migrant Labour • Green Revolution significantly increased remunerative wage employment opportunities in pockets of assured irrigation areas while employment opportunities nearly stagnated in the vast rain fed semi-arid areas.
PROBLEMS OF CHILD LABOUR: • Poverty • Lack of quality education • Illiteracy • Economic hardship
PROBLEMS OF WOMEN LABOUR • Domestic restrictions • Mental harassment • Insufficient maternity leaves • Lack of family support
INDIAN LABOUR LAWS • It refers to laws regulating labour in India. • Traditionally, Indian governments at federal and state level have sought to ensure a high degree of protection for workers. • In practice, this differs due to form of government and because labour is a subject in the concurrent list of the Indian Constitution.
LEGISLATION • Employment Conditions • Industrial Relations • Remuneration • Social Security Benefits
EMPLOYMENT CONDITIONS • Factories Act, 1948 • Shops & Establishment Act (State- Wise) • Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970 • Industrial Employment Standing Order Act, 1946 • Building and Other construction workers (Regulation of employment and conditions of service) Act, 1996
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS • Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (“IDA”) • Trade Union Act, 1926
REMUNERATION • Payment of wages Act, 1936 • Minimum wages Act, 1948 • Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 • Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 (“ER Act”)
SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS • Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 • Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923 • Employers provident fund and Miscellaneous provision Act, 1952 • Employees’ state insurance Act, 1948
REFORMATION OF LABOUR LAWS • Payment of Bonus Amendment Act • Payment of Wages (Amendment) Act, 2017 • Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016 • Maternity Benefit Amendment Act, 2017 • The Employee Compensation (Amendment) Act • The payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Act, 2017
TRADE UNION • According to V. V. Giri ex president of India, trade unions are voluntary organization to organize all workers formed to promote and protect the economic interest of collection action.
TRADE UNION MOVEMENT AFTER 1947: • Since the down of independence, there has been a rapid growth of trade unions. • The membership of the trade unions is increasing day by day. • the number of trade union in different industries is increasing but it cannot be denied that among these unions there is unity amongst diversity. • The different trade unions are alien with the different political parties and watch the interest of their respective political parties.
TRADE UNION PROBLEMS IN INDIA • • Migratory character of labour Lack of unity among the workers. Illiteracy Long house of works Low membership Lack of good leadership Attitude of the employers Indifference of government.
SUGGESTION TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS: • A medium- to long-term employment strategy should be envisaged to deal with the challenges highlighted above. It should ensure that the organized sector, particularly manufacturing, grows much more rapidly than in the past and leads to a process of economy-wide productivity growth, along with employment expansion and rising wages. • Regulatory interventions in informal enterprises should ensure that a minimum quality of employment is maintained and basic rights of workers are respected. • There are significant differences in access to quality employment across different social groups and regions. While economic growth in India has led to an increase in the quantity of employment, the access to quality jobs is still very low. Policy also needs to take into account the social and regional dimensions to access to employment. .
SUGGESTION TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS: • Appropriate policies and measures to address the issue of education and skills acquisition, and of skills mismatches need to be urgently put in place. • Debates on labour market flexibility must be resolved in a way that meets the needs of both workers and enterprises. The question is how to ensure flexibility for market adjustments without compromising the basic interests of labour • Simplification and modernization of labour laws, the necessity of which is widely felt, has to be on the agenda. • Given the widespread insecurity of livelihoods, it is extremely important to provide a minimum level of social security to all workers, which will certainly promote flexibility. • Effective policy requires a greater effort at mapping and documenting today’s principal labour and employment developments. Economic growth is creating new employment patterns and new labour-market issues, new income opportunities and new forms of exploitation, new institutions and forms of organization, new linkages between work and poverty. .
Measures Taken by the Government Minimum Wages Act. Abolition of Bonded Labour. Provision of housing sites. Special schemes for providing employment. Special agencies for development. Proper hygiene and sanitation should be provided to the labourers • Vocational training • Responsibility towards employee's • Moreover care should be given on their education, health and hygiene and various other basic minimal needs which are deserved by the labourers • • •
Conclusion We have seen that the labour market in India has been suffering since time immemorial. Despite an improvement in management levels over the years, direct employmentgeneration programmes, with the possible exception of MGNREGA, have not had the desired impact in large parts of the country. Apart from the need for their restructuring, several of them also need to be more focused in the deprived regions. These regions include areas dominated by the tribal and backward populations, as also remote regions of the country, in order to unpack the full potential of both programmes and regions. So, measures should be taken in order to eradicate them and much attention should be paid towards it. This will benefit our economy at a large scale.
References • (n. d. ). Retrieved September 10, 2019, from Save the Children: http: //www. savethechildren. in/ • Aditya, H. (n. d. ). Problems of Agricultural Labourers (With Measures). Retrieved September 10, 2019, from Economics Discussion: http: //www. economicsdiscussion. net/agriculturaleconomics/problems-of-agricultural-labourers-withmeasures/21594 • Kumari, V. (2014). Problems and challenges Faced by Urban Worming Women in India. Department of Humanities and Social Sciences. • S. D. , G. , & Mukund, M. (2008). Industrial and labour economics. Nirali Prakashan. • Wikipedia. (n. d. ). Retrieved September 10, 2019, from Wikipedia website: https: //www. wikipedia. org/labourissues
Thank You
- Slides: 36