Model Answer
0 min readIntroduction
India's economy heavily relies on its vast informal sector, which employs over 90% of the total workforce and contributes nearly 50% of the GDP (Economic Survey 2022-23). A significant portion of this workforce comprises labour migrants, estimated to be over 100 million (Economic Survey, 2020-21). These individuals migrate from rural areas and smaller towns to urban centres in search of better livelihoods, often driven by agrarian distress. However, their integration into the informal sector often exposes them to a myriad of vulnerabilities, making them a highly precarious and exploited segment of society. These challenges were starkly highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic, underscoring the urgent need for comprehensive policy interventions.
Economic Exploitation and Precarity
- Low Wages and Irregular Payments: Migrant workers in the informal sector often receive wages below the legal minimum, with unpredictable payment schedules. For instance, urban construction workers may work 12-14 hours daily for meagre pay, making financial planning impossible.
- Job Insecurity: Without formal contracts, migrants face arbitrary 'hire and fire' practices, leading to extreme precarity. This lack of security makes them highly vulnerable to economic shocks, as seen during the COVID-19 lockdown when millions lost livelihoods overnight.
- Debt Bondage: Many migrants fall into 'neo-bondage' with contractors, where advance payments often lead to exploitative conditions, particularly in sectors like brick kilns.
- Absence of Social Security: A significant majority, over 76% of informal workers, lack access to crucial social security benefits like Employees' Provident Fund (EPF), Employees' State Insurance (ESI), pension schemes, or paid leave (ILO's World Social Protection Report 2020-22). This absence leaves them without safety nets in times of illness, injury, or old age.
Poor Working and Living Conditions
- Hazardous Work Environments: Migrant labourers frequently work in dangerous conditions without adequate safety equipment or compensation for injuries. Sectors like construction, mining, and brick kilns are particularly risky.
- Long Working Hours: Many are compelled to work excessively long hours, often exceeding 12 hours a day, without overtime compensation, leading to severe physical strain.
- Inadequate Housing: Migrants often reside in overcrowded slums, makeshift shelters at worksites, or on pavements, lacking access to clean water, sanitation, and basic amenities, which increases their vulnerability to diseases.
- Lack of Healthcare Access: Despite health risks, access to quality healthcare is limited due to financial constraints, lack of identity documents, and absence of health insurance.
Social Exclusion and Discrimination
- Denial of Entitlements: Without local identity documents, many migrants cannot access essential public services like PDS rations, healthcare, or education for their children, limiting their capabilities and perpetuating a cycle of deprivation.
- Cultural Alienation and Discrimination: Migrants often face discrimination based on regional, linguistic, and caste identities in host states, leading to social exclusion and psychological stress.
- Political Voicelessness: Being disenfranchised in host states, they lack collective bargaining power and political representation, making it difficult to advocate for their rights. The Election Commission's initiative for remote voting is a step towards addressing this disenfranchisement.
- Gender Disparities: Women migrant workers face additional challenges, including lower wages (earning 35% less than men, as per ILO 2022), increased vulnerability to exploitation, and lack of maternity benefits.
Legal and Institutional Barriers
- Lack of Legal Protection: While new Labour Codes (2020) aim for "universal coverage," effective implementation remains weak. Many informal workers are not covered under specific labour laws, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation. For instance, domestic workers are often excluded from minimum wage acts.
- Weak Enforcement: Existing laws, such as the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979, often suffer from poor implementation and monitoring, rendering them ineffective.
- Lack of Data: The absence of comprehensive and up-to-date data on migrant workers hinders targeted policy formulation and effective resource allocation.
Conclusion
The challenges faced by labour migrants in India's informal sector are systemic and multifaceted, spanning economic exploitation, precarious living and working conditions, social exclusion, and legal vulnerabilities. These issues not only undermine their human dignity but also impede inclusive economic growth. Addressing these problems requires a multi-pronged approach encompassing robust legal frameworks, universal social security coverage, improved access to basic amenities, and portability of entitlements. Efforts like the e-Shram portal and One Nation One Ration Card are commendable steps, but their effective implementation and expansion are crucial to ensure that India’s vast informal workforce is adequately protected and empowered, moving towards a more equitable society.
Answer Length
This is a comprehensive model answer for learning purposes and may exceed the word limit. In the exam, always adhere to the prescribed word count.