A

Employment Policy and Labour Welfare in India

K. Mariappan Assistant Professor of Economics, Sri Vasavi College, Erode, Tamil Nadu.

New Century Publications New Delhi, India

Contents

About the Book About the Author Preface Abbreviations/Acronyms 1. LABOUR FORCE, OCCUPATIONAL STRUCTURE AND UNEMPLOYMENT IN INDIA 1.1 Demographic Trends and Policy 1.1.1 Pre-Independence Demographic Trends 1.1.2 Post-Independence Demographic Trends 1.1.3 Characteristics of India's Population 1.1.4 Population as a Retarding Factor in Development 1.1.5 Population Policy 1.1.6 Measures to Control Population 1.1.7 Demographic Dividend Hypothesis 1.2 Labour Force, Work Force and Unemployment 1.3 Occupational Structure 1.4 Nature of Unemployment in India 1.4.1 Urban Unemployment 1.4.2 Rural Unemployment 1.5 Causes of Unemployment 1.5.1 Labour Force Pressure 1.5.2 Slow Growth of the Economy 1.5.3 Capital-intensive Technology 1.5.4 Defective Education System 1.6 Estimates of Unemployment 1.6.1 Usual Principal Status (UPS) 1.6.2 Usual Principal and Subsidiary Status (UPSS) 1.6.3 Current Weekly Status (CWS) 1.6.4 Current Daily Status (CDS) 1.7 Estimates of Unemployment by Second National Commission on Labour 1.8 64th Round of NSSO Survey on Employment and Unemployment

v vi xv-xx xxi-xxiii 1-35

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Employment Policy and Labour Welfare in India

1.9 India's Five Year Plans on Labour and Employment 1.9.1 First Five Year Plan: 1951-52 to 1955-56 1.9.2 Second Five Year Plan: 1956-57 to 1960-61 1.9.3 Third Five Year Plan: 1961-62 to 1965-66 1.9.4 Fourth Five Year Plan: 1969-70 to 1973-74 1.9.5 Fifth Five Year Plan: 1974-75 to 1978-79 1.9.6 Sixth Five Year Plan: 1980-81 to 1984-85 1.9.7 Seventh Five Year Plan: 1985-86 to 1989-90 1.9.8 Eighth Five Year Plan: 1992-93 to 1996-97 1.9.9 Ninth Five Year Plan: 1997-98 to 2001-02 1.9.10 Tenth Five Year Plan: 2002-03 to 2006-07 1.9.11 Eleventh Five Year Plan: 2007-08 to 2011-12 1.10 Manpower Planning 2. EMPLOYMENT-GENERATING POLICIES AND PROGRAMMES 2.1 Labour Policy and Productivity 2.2 Employment Generation Strategy 2.3 Direct Employment Programmes 2.4 Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005 2.4.1 Objectives and Significance of MGNREGA 2.4.2 Funding of the Programme 2.4.3 Expression of Demand for Employment 2.4.4 Labour Budget, Inventory of Projects and Perspective Plan 2.4.5 Work Record, Payment of Wages and Preventing Bogus Muster Rolls 2.4.6 Women Empowerment 2.4.7 Vigilance and Transparency 2.4.8 Public Accountability 2.4.9 Grievance Redressal 2.4.10 Financial Management 2.4.11 Other Processes of MGNREGA 2.4.12 MGNREGA: A Review 2.4.13 Recommendations of the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector (NCEUS) to Improve the Functioning of MGNREGA 2.5 Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY)

36-58

Contents 2.5.1 Merger of SGRY in MGNREGA 2.5.2 Objectives 2.5.3 Strategy 2.5.4 Salient Features of SGRY 2.5.5 Special Safeguards for Weaker Sections and Women of the Community 2.5.6 Ban on Contractors and Machinery 2.5.7 Worksite Facilities 2.5.8 Annual Action Plan 2.5.9 Works Taken Up 2.5.10 Works Prohibited 2.6 Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) 2.6.1 Objectives of SGSY 2.6.2 Funding Pattern 2.6.3 Strategy 2.6.4 Social Mobilization of the Poor 2.6.5 SGSY: Main Criteria for SHG Formation 2.6.6 Role of NGOs/Banks in Group Formation 2.6.7 Selection of Key Activities 2.6.8 Cluster Approach 2.6.9 Project Approach 2.6.10 Target Group 2.6.11 Financial Assistance 2.6.12 Training 2.6.13 Implementing Agencies 2.6.14 Monitoring 2.6.15 Gender Budgeting under SGSY 2.6.16 Persons with Disabilities 2.7 Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rojgar Yojana (SJSRY) 2.8 Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) 2.9 Sectoral Policies for Employment Generation 2.9.1 Agriculture 2.9.2 Agro-processing Industries 2.9.3 Small-scale Industries (SSIs) 2.9.4 Construction 2.9.5 Travel and Tourism 2.9.6 Social Sectors

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3. LABOUR RELATED CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS AND LEGISLATIONS 3.1 Constitution and the Directive Principles of State Policy 3.2 Post-Independence Philosophy of Labour Laws in India 3.3 Important Labour Laws in India 3.3.1 Conditions of Work 3.3.2 Wages and Remuneration 3.3.3 Employment Security and Industrial Relations 3.3.4 Social Security and Welfare of Workers 3.3.5 Miscellany of Labour Laws 3.4 Issues in Labour Law Reforms 3.4.1 Complexities in Labour Laws 3.4.2: Inflexibility of Labour Laws 3.4.3 Dualism in Labour Laws 3.4.4 Industrial Disputes Act (IDA), 1947 3.4.5 Contract Labour 3.4.6 Inspection System 3.4.7 Limited Coverage and Poor Enforcement 3.5 National Commission on Labour, 2002 3.6 Economic Reforms and Labour Laws 4. SOCIAL SECURITY FOR ORGANIZED WORKERS 4.1 Need for Social Security 4.2 Social Security Scenario in India 4.3 Employees State Insurance (ESI) Scheme 4.4 Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) 4.5 Payment of Gratuity 4.6 Retrenchment Compensation 4.7 National Renewal Fund 4.8 Tax Concessions for Labour Welfare 4.8.1 Income Tax Concessions 4.8.2 Wealth Tax Concessions 4.8.3 Excise Duty Concessions 4.9 Labour Related Organisations/Activities/Schemes 4.9.1 National Labour Institute 4.9.2 Central Board for Workers Education 4.9.3 National Safety Council 4.9.4 Awards

59-89

90-101

Contents

5. UNORGANIZED (INFORMAL) WORKERS IN INDIA 5.1 Meaning, Size and Characteristics of Unorganized Workers 5.2 Problems of Unorganized Workers 5.2.1 Uncertainty and Irregularity of Wage Payment 5.2.2 Contractual Work Status 5.2.3 Long Hours of Work 5.2.4 Poor Physical Environment 5.2.5 Deplorable Housing and Sanitation Conditions 5.2.6 Dangerous and Hazardous Work 5.3 Migrant Workers 5.4 Self-employed Workers 5.5 National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector (NCEUS) 5.5.1 Report on Social Security for Unorganized Workers 5.5.2 Report on Conditions of Work and Promotion of Livelihoods in the Unorganized Sector 5.5.3 Reports on Financing of Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector and Creation of a National Fund for Unorganized Sector 5.5.4 Report on Definitional and Statistical Issues Relating to the Informal Economy 5.5.5 A Special Programme for Marginal and Small Farmers 5.5.6 Report on Growth Pole for the Unorganized Sector 5.5.7 Report on Skill Formation and Employment Assurance in the Unorganized Sector 5.5.8 Report on Technology Upgradation for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector 5.5.9 The Final Report 5.6 Social Security Concerns for the Unorganized Workers 5.7 Social Security Schemes for Unorganized Workers 5.7.1 Welfare Funds 5.7.2 Unorganized Workers' Social Security Act, 2008 5.7.3 Aam Admi Bima Yojana (AABY), 2007 5.7.4 Rashtriya Swasthaya Bima Yojana (Health Insurance Scheme For Unorganized Sector BPL Workers, 2007 5.7.5 National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) 5.7.6 Annapurna Scheme

xi

102-121

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6. AGRICULTURAL WORKERS AND FORCED/BONDED LABOURERS 6.1 Agricultural Workers: Categories and Nature of Employment 6.2 Problems of Agricultural Workers 6.3 Remedial Measures 6.3.1 Minimum Wages Act, 1948 6.3.2 Plantation Labour Act, 1951 6.3.3 Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005 6.3.4 House Sites 6.3.5 Resettlement Schemes for Landless Workers 6.3.6 Financial Assistance 6.3.7 Insurance Scheme for Agricultural Workers 6.4 Bonded Labour 6.4.1 Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 7. WOMEN WORKERS IN INDIA 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Characteristics of Women's Work in India 7.2.1 Volatility of Employment 7.2.2 Self-employed Service Work 7.2.3 Subsidiary Status Work 7.2.4 Women's Migration for Work 7.2.5 Home-based Work 7.3 Problems of Women Workers 7.3.1 Double Burden of Work 7.3.2 Non-conventional Place of Work 7.3.3 Sexual Division of Labour 7.3.4 Sexual Harassment 7.3.5 Female Domestic Workers 7.4 Categorisation of Laws Pertaining to Women Workers 7.4.1 Category I Laws 7.4.2 Category II Laws 7.4.3. Category III Laws 7.5 Enforceability of the Acts 7.6 Globalization and Women 7.6.1 Adverse Effects of Globalization on Women 7.6.2 Opportunities Offered by Globalization

122-128

129-146

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8. CHILD WORKERS 8.1 Children in South Asian Countries 8.2 Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 8.3 Problems of Child Workers 8.4 National Child Labour Projects (NCLPs)

147-150

9. INDUSTRIAL SICKNESS AND LABOUR 9.1 Causes of Industrial Sickness 9.1.1 External Causes 9.1.2 Internal Causes 9.2 Extent of Sickness 9.3 Government Policy on Sick Industrial Units 9.3.1 Government Policy on Nationalisation of Sick Industrial Units 9.4 Measures to Help Sick Industrial Units

151-154

10. INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 10.1 Trends in Strikes and Lockouts 10.2 Industrial Relations: Post-Independence Trends 10.2.1 From Laissez Faire to State Intervention 10.2.2 First National Commission on Labour (NCL-I), 1969 10.2.3 Declaration of Emergency, 1975 10.2.4 Post-Emergency to 1990 10.2.5 Post-liberalisation Period (1991 onwards) 10.2.6 Second National Commission on Labour (NCL-II), 2002

155-163

11. ILO, WTO, GLOBALIZATION AND INDIAN LABOUR 11.1 International Labour Organisation (ILO) 11.1.1 Aims and Objectives of ILO 11.1.2 ILO Conventions and Recommendations 11.1.3 ILO in the Present Context 11.1.4 Active Partnership Policy (APP) and Multi-disciplinary Team 11.2 World Trade Organization (WTO) 11.2.1 WTO: An Introduction 11.2.2 Linkage between Trade and Labour Standards 11.3 Globalization and Liberalization

164-174

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11.4 Future Scenario Appendix 1: Review of Labour Laws and Social Security by Second National Commission on Labour

175-214

Appendix 2: Edited Extracts from India's Five Year Plans on Employment and Labour Welfare (I to XI Plan)

215-280

Bibliography

281-294

Index

295-302