VULNERABLE WORKERS

In the Indian economy where an overwhelming proportion of workers are in the

informal sector whose defining characteristics is low productivity, small size
of enterprises and absence of job and/or social security to workers, vulnerability
should be reckoned as all pervasive. However, there are specific segments of workers
who are at a distinct disadvantage arising out of their helpless nests in terms of local
distress, distress induced migrants, working children, workers with physical challenges
or those in bondage like conditions.

MIGRANT WORKERS
Effective enforcement of the Inter-State Migrants Act of 19xx will be ensured to
regulate the recruitment as well as terms and conditions of work.
The state governments will ensure that migrant workers have access to basic
amenities such as shelter, drinking water and sanitation, health care and access to
schooling for the children. In addition, it will also ensure, through appropriate
legislation that the social security scheme for workers in the unorganized sector are
also made available to the migrant workers.

CHILD LABOUR
STATE

DISTRICTS SANCTIONED COVERAGE ACTUAL COVERAGE

SCHOOLS
CHILDREN SCHOOLS CHILDREN

Andhra
Pradesh

20

807

43550

610

36249

Bihar

08

174

12200

173

10094

Gujarat

02

040

2000

023

1254

Karnataka

03

100

5000

024

1200

Madhya
Pradesh

05

138

9800

087

6524

Maharashtra

02

074

3700

024

1200

Orissa

16

430

33000

239

14972

Rajasthan

02

060

3000

054

2700

Tamil Nadu

08

379

19500

307

14684

Uttar
Pradesh

04

150

11500

105

7488

West
Bengal

04

219

12000

164

8250

Total

76

2571

155250

1810

104615

STATE-WISE PROJECTS UNDER IPEC AND NUMBER OF CHILDREN

COVERED (92-97)
PROJECTS
STATE
NO. OF
APPROVED CHILDREN
Andhra
Pradesh

15

15455

Bihar

1340

Delhi

4200

Gujarat

1350

Haryana

300

Karnataka

1320

Kerala

2000

Madhya
Pradesh

2050

Manipur

500

Maharashtra

1750

Orissa

1500

Rajasthan

5800

Tamil Nadu

17

6710

Uttar
Pradesh

11

13939

West
Bengal

19

22890

Regional

NA

All India
Institutions

11

NA

120

81154

Total

Tackling child labour (which is declining) calls for policies and

programmes to improve the livelihood security of poor families to which they belong.
Provision of gainful employment especially during lean seasons, better

enforcement of minimum wages of adult workers, provision of basic social

security and contingent social security will be strengthened. In addition, childcentered programmes such as ICDS and Mid-Day Meals in schools will be extended to
cover the whole country and steps taken to enhance their effectiveness.
An area requiring special focus is to strengthen access to schooling especially in
rural areas. The augmented programme of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is
expected to ensure universal enrolment of children in schools. Special schemes
will be introduced to states that account for an overwhelming proportion of children out
of school.
State governments and local self governments will be encouraged and incentivized to
ensure provision of quality education. The family-centric and convergence-based
child labour approach will be promoted through policy and schemes, particularly at
the district levels. Special schemes will be introduced for states that account for an
overwhelming proportion of children out of school. Regionally focused policies and
programmes will therefore get special attention.

BONDED LABOUR
There exist various interpretations of the term bonded labour.
Operational definitions will need to be adopted.
Policies and schemes aimed at preventive aspects will be strengthened
to reduce the incidence of bonded labour that largely, if not only, arises from debtbondage. Special schemes for rural, poor households from such socially disadvantaged
groups as Scheduled Castes and Tribes, who constitute the majority of bonded labour,
will be introduced in areas of origin. With the aim of tackling the reasons for
bondage or bondage-like situations.

People can fall back on NREGA in these hard times:

World Bank

NEW DELHI: The World Bank on Wednesday praised the UPA government's
National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme saying people can fall back
on

the

scheme

"in

these

hard

times".

"India is fortunate to have in place a (NREGA) program that people can fall
back on to find work in these hard times", World Bank's Country Director
Roberto Zagha said at a function to launch a book 'Social Safety Nets : Learning
from
Global
Experience.'
Describing the NREGA scheme as an innovative programme, he said, "(it) is an
important cushion for poor people living in rural areas who might be at risk of
being
pushed
further
into
poverty."
Noting that nowhere the potential impact of safety nets is larger than in India,
he said, the country "spends more of its income on safety - more than 2 per cent
of
GDP
than
most
developing
countries."
India launched the NREGA in 2006, initially in 200 districts and gradually
extended it to cover the entire nation. The government, according to reports, is
also planning to introduce a similar scheme for alleviation of poverty in urban
areas.

World Bank sees NREGA as a barrier to economic

development

NEW DELHI: The World Bank has described the much-acclaimed National
Rural Employment Guarantee (NREGA) scheme of the UPA government as a
policy

barrier

hurting

economic

development

and

poverty

alleviation.

Various schemes of the Indian government like NREGA, watershed programmes

and schemes for development of small and medium towns are acting as "policy
barriers to internal mobility", the bank said in its 'World Development Report'
2009.
The internal mobility, the report argued, is necessary as "lifting people out of
poverty requires shifting populations from villages to cities". The process of
migration
should
be
encouraged,
the
bank
said.
"Negative attitudes held by (the) government and ignorance of the benefits of
population mobility have caused migration to be overlooked as a force in
economic
development,"
it
said.
The report said economic benefits of migration are not always recognised by
policy makers and, in fact, two forms of policy have been attempted in India to
counter
migration.
"The first response has been to increase rural employment, in an attempt to stem
movement out of rural areas ... These measures include the recently introduced

National

Rural

Employment

Guarantee

Programme,"

it

said.

The World Bank cited other programmes such as watershed development to

improve agricultural productivity and development of small and medium towns,
which the Indian government has taken up to reduce migration.
"The second policy response is implicit. Because of the perceived negative
effects, local governments remain hostile toward migrants, while employers
routinely disregard laws to protect their rights and needs," the report said.
In many cases, welfare policies and social services are designed for a sedentary
population,
the
bank
said.
"This is best exemplified by location-specific entitlements to social services,
housing subsidies, food rations, and other public amenities especially important
to
working
poor
people,"
it
said.
The report, which recommends concentration of production and mobility of
people, said, "Current policies do not allow communities to fully capture the
benefits of labour mobility."

NREGA may be adversely affecting agriculture

NEW DELHI: Even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced the

extension of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) to all
districts,

concerns have been expressed that the programme is adversely affecting

agriculture in some areas because of a shortage of labour.
"We have been receiving letters from some parts of the country raising
concerns over the NREGA affecting domestic agricultural work, although it is
too early to arrive at any conclusion. These concerns are very much local,"
Union Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said.
Representations have been received by the ministry from Andhra Pradesh and
Kerala saying that the scheme has affected farming as it has resulted in a
shortage of agricultural labour.
"A network of NGOs led by social scientist K S Gopalan has submitted a study
to the ministry which underlines the derogatory affect of the scheme on
farming. The report is being looked into," a source in the ministry said.
"Recently, the Kerala government had written to the ministry seeking
permission to engage labour from NREGA in private agricultural farms as ut
felt there was an acute shortage of labour for farming. The request was
denied," he said.
The ministry has issued instructions to state governments to execute the
scheme in such a manner that it does not affect local farming.
"Food security is more important. We have clear instructions that the NREGA
should be executed only during the lean period and should not affect
agriculture. That is why it is for only 100 days and not the whole year," Singh

said.
NREGA provides a legal guarantee for 100 days of employment in every
financial year at the statutory minimum wage.
Under the scheme, anyone willing to avail the benefits has to register with the
local gram panchayat, which in turn issues a job card. If employment is not
provided within 15 days of receipt of the job card, the applicant is entitled to
an unemployment allowance.
The scheme, initially started in 200 districts in February 2006, was later
expanded to 130 more districts this year.