5GLITTERS

An unorganized worker is a home based worker, self employedworker or a wage worker in the unorganized sector or a worker whois not covered by any of the labor laws. It provides employment tomore than 90% of the labor as well as makes sizeable contributionto the GDP. A large number of them are below poverty line. By2020, India will account for nearly a quarter of the globalworkforce. A large proportion of the workers engaged in the urbanunorganized sector is migrants from rural areas with poor. Easyentry & exit from the business & free mobility is there within thesector.

• 60% of female workers in developing countries are employed by the informal sectordue to easy availability

• PROBLEMS• Gender GAP IN WOMEN IS EVEN HIGHER• SEXUAL, PHYSICAL, MENTAL & ECONOMICAL ABUSES• No Maternity leave benefits, compensation against• Budget received by National Women's Commission is not sufficient enough to initiate

any movement to alleviate challenges faced by women in these sectors.• Reasons For Their Vulnerability (a) irregular work, (b) low economic status,• (c) No bargaining power, (d) lack of control over earnings,• (e) need to balance paid work with care for children, (g) lack of assets,• (f) NO access to institutional credit, training & information• Solutions:• Sufficient deployment of Police with Female Staff to increase Public to Police ratio• Cells for Quickest Redressal of grievances concerning domestic violence,

unequal pay, assault case to be setup in every nook and corner.Give exemplary punishment to the culprit

• The governments cannot collect taxes from informal businesseswhich leads to a great loss to Indian Economy.

• Solution: Establish a mechanism to collect Tax from Informal Sector

• Implementation: Most popular AADAHAR Card may be used to takethe information(in the next phase) like Account No, PAN Card etc tokeep a track. This would also help them in transferring the subsidiesand return directly in their accounts. This would in turntransparency and accountability of the government hence curbingcorruption

• Impact: If all the population in informal sector pay their taxes wellin time then our economy will be in a very healthy state than ever

• Social Security includes Health Security, MaternityNeeds, Life & Accident Security, UnemploymentSecurity, Old Age Security, No housing, No Pension

• Solutions: limit of BPL to be raised so as to increase thecoverage

• Health insurance by way of reimbursement for majorailments.

• House building assistance with easy loan or EMI’s• Scholarship for wards of the workers.• Easy and quick process for opening bank account &

getting Insurance cover• methods of generating income through microloans or

land rights when access to the formal sector is limited

• Implementation: National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Number of working daysto be increased with compensation for unemployment. Similar Scheme must also belaunched in Sub urban areas.

• Skill training must be given through the establishment of ITI’s at grassroots level• Employment solutions using technology, such as the Internet (e.g. interactive websites in

multiple languages), mobile technology (e.g. SMS alerts) & call centers. Such technologybuilds potentially scalable, sustainable & profitable business models.

• Job seekers to use portals like Timesjob, Naukarisearch, Monster.com as they are free andgives perfect match at the earliest.

• To facilitate the transition of informal businesses to the formal sector & reduce barriers forall business (formal & informal). Hence poor can realize their potential & raise nationalcompetitiveness. Acquiring formal status allows entrepreneurs to access formal markets,invest with security, obtain new sources of credit, & defend their rights. For ex- In La Paz,Bolivia during year 2004 the municipal government reduced the number of proceduresrequired to register a business, the number of registered businessincreased by 20 %.

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• Implementation: scheme to provides smart card basedhealth insurance. Premium of the insurance is paid jointlyby the Central Govt (75%) & State Govt (25%).

• Legislation to enable private sector companies to sellinsurance & pension products in the form of deferredannuity, immediate annuity, annuity with return ofpurchase price

• Old Age Pension scheme to be enforced nationally toprovide old age pension to all citizens which are 50 yearsof age & living below poverty line.

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• Implementation : Lack of Awareness is the major factor involved behind allthe social Security Issues. So government & we all can take a step towardscreating awareness, by letting the informal unorganized sector aware of thepolicies being run by the government, what are their rights, how they candemand for justice, how they can organize themselves, how they can beformalized etc.

• For this various competitions like drawing, slogan writing, marathon, essaywriting, paper presentation, dramas, skit can be conducted on a large scaleto sensitize the informal workers to unleash the potential within them inthe most efficient manner. This can also be improved by media and presscoverage at wider scale, so that every possible helper can know abouttheir(Informal workers) wretched conditions

• Minimum Wages Act must be executed with strictness and no compromise formismanagement & if possible balance can be transferred to the accounts orcan be given to the leader of group of workers who enjoys the majority andcan take stern actions against the offender. This would prevent them fromirregular, less & unstable income

• Government must fix working hours for the workers so that they are notsubjected to long working hours. Paid Leave, Bonus Support or Incentivesawarded, if working hours are exceeded.

• Employer – employee relationship must be built through mutual cooperation

• Frequent & Regular raids must be conducted everyday to counter attackpeople employing Child Labor, making them work in hazardous conditions withsanitation and basic hygienic amenities

• Government must take a pledge to convert all the slumsinto a better place to live by the end of this 5 year plan.

• Informal workers who are also slum dwellers must organizethemselves like RWA’s(Resident welfare Associations) to bein direct link with the local governing bodies hence theycan get issues like education, health, water Supply,electricity etc addressed at the earliest

• Government hospitals must be accessible even in slumareas. All the medical students of India can be made tointern in rural areas near by, this would render greatsupport to the basic health especially maternity needs ofrural people who are mostly informal

• Impact: Lack of basic social security can

• Debilitates the worker’s ability to contribute meaningfully to his efficiency & thus to increase production & improve productivity.

• It leads to social displeasure & estrangement, especially in the wake of prosperity evident in another section of the social order.

• NSSO reports clear evidences to prove labour market of India has been undergoing tremendous transformations, including growth of informal sector activities, deterioration in the quality of employment, Weakening of worker organizations, marked decline in social security etc. To a greater extent, these transformation could be related to the ongoing globalization

• But by successfully implementing the solutions recommended, India would have had formalized most of its informal population in the best possible manner and hence it would boost India’s confident of being a superpower in the very near future to come

• http://urbanpoverty.intellecap.com/?p=590

• http://www.ijhssnet.com/journals/Vol_2_No_21_November_2012/23.pdf

• http://www.worecnepal.org/news/problems-challenges-&-solution-women-working-informal-&-entertainment-sector

• http://www.google.com/imghp

• www.wikipedia.org