{"id":56670,"date":"2020-03-05T17:32:41","date_gmt":"2020-03-05T12:02:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/?page_id=56670"},"modified":"2020-03-05T17:32:43","modified_gmt":"2020-03-05T12:02:43","slug":"4-what-do-you-understand-by-the-term-informal-sector-enumerate-the-steps-taken-by-the-government-to-improve-the-condition-of-workers-in-the-informal-sector","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/4-what-do-you-understand-by-the-term-informal-sector-enumerate-the-steps-taken-by-the-government-to-improve-the-condition-of-workers-in-the-informal-sector\/","title":{"rendered":"[Answered] What do you understand by the term \u2018informal sector\u2019? Enumerate the steps taken by the government to improve the condition of workers in the informal sector."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n Demand of the question<\/strong>\n Introduction.\n <\/strong>What is the informal sector?\n Body.\n <\/strong>Discuss various issues in the informal sector and\n steps taken by the government to improve the condition of workers in the\n informal sector.\n Conclusion.\n <\/strong>Way forward.\n <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

According to the ILO the informal sector\ncan be characterized as a range of economic units which are mainly owned and\noperated by individuals and employ one or more employees on a continuous basis.\nInformal sector includes farmers, agricultural labourers, owners of small\nenterprises and people working in those enterprises and also the self-employed\nwho do not have any hired workers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Issues\nregarding condition of workers in the informal sector:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Inadequate safety and health standards: <\/strong>Most industries,\nespecially mining, have inadequate safety and health standards. Environmental hazards are\nevident in the case of the informal sector.<\/li>
  2. Irregularities in Minimum Wages: <\/strong>Most of the studies on conditions of employment\nin the unorganised sector have examined the wage levels and earnings of workers\nare identified that the daily wages are below the minimum rate of wages.<\/li>
  3. Long Hours of work:<\/strong> Long hours work in the unorganised sector beyond the\nlabour and regulatory norms are common in India. The long working hours have a\nsevere repercussion on the social and family life of labourers in general and\nwomen labourers in particular.<\/li>
  4. Poverty and Indebtedness:<\/strong> Workers in the unorganised sector had a much\nhigher incidence of poverty than their counterparts in the organised sector.\nDue to low level of income and uncertain employment in the unorganised sector\nmake the workers unable to meet their basic necessities and other social and\nother cultural responsibilities.<\/li>
  5. Non-Applicability of Social Security Measures:<\/strong> There are many times when a worker cannot be economically active. For\ninstance, due to biological circumstances such as sickness or old age, on\naccount of personal calamities such as an accident or unemployment. There are\nno social security measures to provide risks coverage and ensure maintenance of\nbasic living standards at times of crises such as unemployment or health\nissues.<\/li>
  6. Lack of Proper Physical Environment:<\/strong> Lack of sanitation facilities has an impact on\nhealth of the workers. But, sanitary conditions are precarious in most of the\nindustries in the unorganised sector due to lack of proper toilet facilities.\nThe facilities such as washing, urinal and toilet facilities at work are found\nto be low standard.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Steps\ntaken by the government to improve workers\u2019 condition in the informal sector:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. 1.     \nDirective principles:<\/strong> A number of directive principles of state\npolicy relating to aspects of social security were incorporated in the Indian\nconstitution. The legal initiatives like the Employees State Insurance Act\n(1948), the Minimum Wages Act (1948), the Coal Mines Provident Funds Act\n(1948), The Employees Provident Fund Act (1952), the Maternity Benefit Act\n(1961) and the Contract Labour Act (1970) etc. are important for labour\nwelfare.<\/li>
    2. National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector:<\/strong> India is perhaps the first country to set up, a\ncommission named National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS) in 2004 to\nstudy the problems and challenges being faced by the informal economy.<\/li>
    3. Poverty related development schemes:<\/strong> The Government of India initiated several\npoverty related development schemes which indirectly benefited the urban informal sector since\nindependence. Schemes like the Nehru Rozgar\nYojana, MGNREGA and the Swarna Jayanti Shahri Rozgar Yojana were launched to\nprovide support to the poor who constitute bulk of the informal sector.<\/li>
    4. Social security: <\/strong>To provide social security benefits, the Parliament enacted\nthe Unorgnaised Workers\u2019 Social Security Act, 2008. The government has also\nlaunched Atal Pension Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, Pradhan\nMantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana etc.<\/li>
    5. Skill development<\/strong>: To take care of the need for skills of workers in the\ninformal economy, the government has started various programs such as the Skill\nIndia Mission, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Grameen\nKaushal Yojana, recognition of prior learning etc.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Way\nforward:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      1. Overhauling labour laws<\/strong>: Labour, as well as tax policies, are key to\nimproving the business environment. Labour regulations have to allow for more\nflexible work arrangements. Moreover, the right to associate freely should be\nvigorously protected.<\/li>
      2. Preventing occupational hazards: <\/strong>Innovative means to prevent occupational\naccidents and diseases and environmental hazards need to be developed through\ncost-effective and sustainable measures at the work-site level to allow for\ncapacity-building within the informal sector itself. <\/li>
      3. Local support: <\/strong>Building-on local institutional support to progressively\nextend social protection will be critical. <\/li>
      4. Sensitization:<\/strong> Special attention should be paid to the sensitization of\npolicy makers, municipal authorities and labour inspection services to change\ntheir traditional role towards a preventive and promotional approach. <\/li>
      5. Health protection<\/strong>: The extension of occupational health care to workers in\nthe informal sector should be promoted incorporating occupational health into\npublic health care services at district and local levels and establishing a\nlink between first aid and prevention at the work-site\u2019s level.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        India\u2019s informal sector is the backbone of\nthe economy. The nation\u2019s quality of life hinges on things becoming better for\nmasses of informally employed people.Improving\nthe conditions of workers in the informal sector assumes significance from the\nperspective of inclusive growth. Keeping in mind the low incomes of informal\nworks, the Government should take steps to prescribe minimum wages for the\ninformal sector.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Demand of the question Introduction. What is the informal sector? Body. Discuss various issues in the informal sector and steps taken by the government to improve the condition of workers in the informal sector. Conclusion. Way forward. According to the ILO the informal sector can be characterized as a range of economic units which are… Continue reading [Answered] What do you understand by the term \u2018informal sector\u2019? Enumerate the steps taken by the government to improve the condition of workers in the informal sector.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-56670","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/56670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/56670\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}