Impact of Lockdown on Unorganized Workers during Covid19: A Case of Telangana State

  • Dr. Shaheen, Prof. R. K. Mishra, Prof. K. Trivikram

Abstract

Indian economy is characterized by the existence of a vast majority of informal or unorganised labour employment. As per a survey carried out by the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) in 2009–10, the total employment in the country was of 46.5 crore comprising around crore in the organised and the remaining 43.7 crore workers in the unorganised sector, which amounts to 94% of the total work force. Apart from employing 94% of the work force, unorganised sector is vital as it contributes around 50% of our national GDP. Out of these workers in the unorganised sector, there are 24.6 crore workers employed in agricultural sector, about 4.4 crore in construction work and remaining in manufacturing and service.The Ministry of Labour, Government of India, has categorized the unorganized labour force under four groups on the basis of Occupation, nature of employment, specially distressed categories and service categories.

On the basis of Occupation: Small and marginal farmers, landless agricultural laborers, share croppers, fishermen, those engaged in animal husbandry, beedi rolling, labeling and packing, building and construction workers, leather workers, weavers, artisans, salt workers, workers in brick kilns and stone quarries, workers in saw mills, oil mills, etc. come under this category.

On the basis of Nature of Employment: Attached agricultural laborers, bonded laborers, migrant workers, contract and casual laborers come under this category.

On the basis of Specially Distressed Category: Toddy tappers, scavengers, carriers of head loads, drivers of animal driven vehicles, loaders and un-loaders come under this category.

On the basis of Service Category: Midwives, Domestic workers, Fishermen and women, Barbers, Vegetable and fruit vendors, News paper vendors etc. belong to thiscategory.

In addition to these four categories, there exists a large section of unorganized labor force such  as cobblers, Hamals, Handicraft artisans, Handloom weavers, Lady tailors, Physically handicapped self-employed persons, Rikshaw pullers, Auto drivers, Sericulture workers, Carpenters, Tannery workers, Power loom workers and Urbanpoor.

Though the statistical information available on intensity and accuracy vary significantly, the extent of unorganized workers is significantly high among agricultural workers, building and other construction workers and among home based workers. According to the Economic Survey 2007-08 agricultural workers constitute the largest segment of workers in the unorganized sector (ie. 52% of the total workers).As per the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO), 30 million workers in India are constantly on the move (migrant labour) and 25.94 million women workforce has been added in the labour market from the year 2000 onwards. The same report highlights the most vulnerable conditions of unorganised workers. The effects of globalization and its resultant efforts on part of employers to minimize the cost of production to the lowest levels have resulted in considerable deterioration in the quality of employment in terms of job security, conditions and terms at work, job satisfaction, weakening of trade or workers associations and collective bargaining institutions and overall marked deterioration of social security/welfare norms, lower real wage and lower productivity. In recent times growing proclivity towards temporary or part time, flexible workforce has been observed, which depicts lesser job security and social protection towards employees. So the unorganised sector workers life was pathetic and vulnerable. The situation went from bad to worse and their life was totally shattered and faced worst scenario during covid-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic in India was part of the worldwide pandemic of corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV- 2).To curb the widespread of Corona virus, Government of India, has announced 21days of complete lock down from 24thMarch 2020 to 14thApril 2020. This three week lock down was inevitable to break the infectious cycle of Corona virus. The lockdown was placed when the number of confirmed positive corona virus cases in India was approximately500. Experts state that the lockdown had slowed the growth rate of the pandemic (doubling every six days) by 6thApril and to a rate of doubling every eight days, by 18thApril. As the end of the first lockdown period approached, state governments and other advisory committees recommended extending the lockdown period. The governments of Odisha and Punjab extended the state lockdowns uptil 1stMay. Other states such as Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal and Telangana followed suit. On 14thApril, Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended the nationwide lockdown until 3rdMay, with conditional relaxations after 20thApril for the regions where the spread had been contained or was minimal. On 1stMay, the Government of India extended the nationwide lockdown further by two weeks until 17thMay. The Government divided all the districts into three zones, on the basis of spread of the virus, namely Green, Red and Orange zones, with relaxations applied accordingly. On 17thMay, the lockdown was further extended till 31stMay by the National Disaster Management Authority. Therefore, these 45 days lock down, has completely shattered and ravaged the lives of people, especially workers from unorganised sector. With no job, no income, the lives of unorganised workers was totally destroyed. Already their condition was bad, it went from bad to worse. With larger job cuts and with less job creation, the spending capacity of the people was taken for toss. With this aggregate demand of the economy is in deep trouble. This paper analyses, the different impact dimensions of Covid-19 on unorganised work force in Telangana state.

Published
2021-11-13
How to Cite
Dr. Shaheen, Prof. R. K. Mishra, Prof. K. Trivikram. (2021). Impact of Lockdown on Unorganized Workers during Covid19: A Case of Telangana State. Design Engineering, 8556-8569. Retrieved from http://thedesignengineering.com/index.php/DE/article/view/6307
Section
Articles