Workers in the time of Covid-19 - Round 1 of the National Study on Informal Workers

फ़ोकस

Workers in the Time of Covid-19 - Round 1 of the National Study on Informal Workers was published in August 2020, after the third phase of the nationwide Covid-19 lockdown in May 2020. The Indian branch of Action Aid, a global development organization with a human rights approach, worked to systematically analyse the injustices faced by informally employed individuals while the pandemic led to the shutdown of many workplaces. The survey was designed by Professor Praveen Jha of the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning; and the Centre for Informal Sector and Labour Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University and Prof Pushpendra Kumar Singh, Chairperson of the Centre for Development Practice and Research (a Patna-based centre of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences). 

Workers across the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Odisha, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal were interviewed. Out of 11,530 workers surveyed, 72 per cent were male, 66 per cent were migrant workers, 66 per cent from rural areas, and all were from communities where Action Aid had been working with. The survey covered 293 source and 393 destination districts.

The survey was intended to expose the limits of social welfare structures, the economy, and government policy in supporting the “city maker” – workers who migrate to contribute labour to cities. The plight of informal workers underscores the need to reform Indian labour structures to build a more resilient society for all members, not just a select few.  

The 117-page report covers four main subjects: the livelihoods of migrant workers, inclusiveness and liveability of cities, cycles of dispossession and precarity, and women’s participation in the workforce. The findings are organized into 5 chapters : Introduction, Distress Factors compounding the Socio-Economic Crisis, Impact of Covid-19 Induced Lockdown, Access to Relief and Entitlements During the Lockdown, and Impact on Women Workers. 

    फ़ैक्टॉइड

  1. Over 75 per cent of respondents lost their occupations from the beginning of the lockdown, with nearly 50 per cent not receiving any wages and 53 per cent incurring additional debt over the lockdown from the financial strain. Savings also took a drastic hit, with only 5 per cent of respondents saying that their savings were sufficient.

  2. The report notes that 90 per cent of respondents lack written employment contracts, depriving them of many entitlements and rights as workers. This translated to less than 22 per cent of respondents having access to social security schemes, and only 35 per cent receiving full wages during the period of survey. 

  3. There is also a strong correlation between land ownership and labour-related migration. Out of the workers surveyed who migrated for work, 61 per cent do not own any land. In addition, 43 per cent of these workers migrate multiple times a year, indicating lack of availability or stability of work in destination places. 

  4. Concerning women, 85 per cent of domestic workers lost their livelihood, with 99 per cent having to dip into savings to meet expenses during lockdown.

  5. Access to healthcare was fraught, with 75 per cent of respondents unable to access healthcare when necessary. This could be for various reasons: nearly 6 per cent of respondents were denied due to lack of Covid-19 test certificates which were demanded by hospitals for admission and 2-3 per cent were refused due to caste and religion respectively.

  6. The report notes that 17 per cent of respondents claimed their food consumption was ‘sufficient’ compared to 83 per cent before the lockdown. About 44 per cent  received no food assistance, even as 34 per cent were eating only once a day and 38 per cent had insufficient access to water.

  7. Housing density and stability is a major concern, with only 13 per cent of workers having a rent agreement even though 55 per cent live in rented housing. In addition, 60 per cent of migrants vacated their housing from loss of livelihood (44 per cent), inability to pay rent (19 per cent), closure of factories (18 per cent), and eviction by landlords or employers (5 per cent). 

  8. The social composition of respondents yields 15 per cent Scheduled Tribes, 39 per cent Scheduled Caste members, which is higher than their proportion in the composition of the country’s population. Backward classes composed 28 per cent and other categories were 18 per cent. Enrolment in schemes remained low. In terms of pension schemes, the deprivation of meaningful financial support for retirement pushes workers to work longer than peers. Non migrants were enrolled for pension schemes at double the rate of migrant workers. 

  9. There was also a severe lack of other assistance and support during this period. The report notes that 79 per cent of respondents received no cash assistance, 44 per cent no food assistance, and 85 per cent no shelter assistance. In addition, 70 per cent of migrants received no transport assistance, leaving 50 per cent of migrant workers stranded for over a month.

    Focus and Factoids by Sanskriti Reddy. 

    PARI Library's health archive project is part of an initiative supported by the Azim Premji University to develop a free-access repository of health-related reports relevant to rural India.

लेखक

ActionAid Association 

कॉपीराइट

ActionAid Association 

पब्लिश होने की तारीख़

अगस्त, 2020

टैग

#migration-workers #covid-19-pandemic #migrants-exodus #covid-19-lockdown #migrant-labourers

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