Skip to main content

Higher proportion of Gujarat workers live without social security benefits: NSSO

The latest National Sample Survey (NSS) report, “Informal Sector and Conditions of Employment in India”, finalized in July 2014, and based on survey between July 2011 and June 2012, has gone a long way to suggest extremely sorry state of affairs of workers in Gujarat, especially in what has been called the non-agricultural sector, as also in the sector identified AGEGC ([ag]riculture sector [e]xcluding [g]rowing of [c]rops). Seeking to analyze the status of affairs of workers with a special focus on the informal sector — in which 72.4 per cent of the total workers employed in the non-agricultural and AGEGC units are employed in India – the data show that the situation is particularly appalling in Gujarat, where 75.1 per cent belong to the informal sector out of the total workforce employed in the non-agricultural and AGEGC units.

The NSS report finds that not only average wages (casual and salaries combined) being paid in Gujarat – Rs 268 per day, as against the all-India average of Rs 322 – are lower than as many as 14 major states out of 20, things are equally bad vis-à-vis most states with regard to provision of social security and eligibility for paid leave, which may become a necessary during sickness. In fact, the survey has found that, while the proportion of temporary workers in Gujarat may not be higher than the all-India average (40 per cent, as against the all-India average of 42.1 per cent), the casualisation is so high that as many as 81.6 per cent of the workers in the state work in enterprises without any written contract. A comparison would suggest that only five of 20 major states have a higher proportion of workers working without any written contract with the employers.
The survey has found that Gujarat’s 73.1 per cent workers do not get the facility of paid leave – which is higher than all but six of the 20 major states. Further, 74.8 per cent of the workers of Gujarat are found to be working without any social security benefits, which again is worse than all but seven out of 20 major states. While no reasons have been forwarded in the NSS report for this state of affairs, data suggest that it may be linked to lack of workers’ participation in unions or associations. Thus, Gujarat’s 87.3 per cent workers are not associated with a union or an association, which is higher than most states except Rajasthan (89.5 per cent), Odisha (88.7 per cent), Jharkhand (88.2 per cent), and Himachal Pradesh (67.4 per cent). In the country as a whole, 80.2 per cent of workers are not associated with any union or association.
In its analysis, the NSS report explains that the proportion of employees who were found to be not eligible for paid leave and social security benefits — which consist of provident fund (PF) scheme, gratuity and, health care and maternity benefits — is considerably higher in most of the private sector enterprises, such as construction, manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, accommodation and food service activities, activities of households as employers, and undifferentiated goods and services producing activities of households for own use. On the other hand, paid leaves and social security benefits are available in public administration and defence, education, information and communication, financial and insurance activities, health and social work activities. It comments, “Non-availability of social security benefits is a measure of insecurity in the job one performs.”

Comments

TRENDING

When Pakistanis whispered: ‘end military rule’ — A Moscow memoir

During the recent anti-terror operation inside Pakistan by the Government of India, called Operation Sindoor — a name some feminists consider patently patriarchal, even though it’s officially described as a tribute to the wives of the 26 husbands killed in the terrorist strike — I was reminded of my Moscow stint, which lasted for seven long years, from 1986 to 1993.

Ahmedabad's civic chaos: Drainage woes, waterlogging, and the illusion of Olympic dreams

In response to my blog on overflowing gutter lines at several spots in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur, a heavily populated area, a close acquaintance informed me that it's not just the middle-class housing societies that are affected by the nuisance. Preeti Das, who lives in a posh locality in what is fashionably called the SoBo area, tells me, "Things are worse in our society, Applewood."

Tracking a lost link: Soviet-era legacy of Gujarati translator Atul Sawani

The other day, I received a message from a well-known activist, Raju Dipti, who runs an NGO called Jeevan Teerth in Koba village, near Gujarat’s capital, Gandhinagar. He was seeking the contact information of Atul Sawani, a translator of Russian books—mainly political and economic—into Gujarati for Progress Publishers during the Soviet era. He wanted to collect and hand over scanned soft copies, or if possible, hard copies, of Soviet books translated into Gujarati to Arvind Gupta, who currently lives in Pune and is undertaking the herculean task of collecting and making public soft copies of Soviet books that are no longer available in the market, both in English and Indian languages.

RP Gupta a scapegoat to help Govt of India manage fallout of Adani case in US court?

RP Gupta, a retired 1987-batch IAS officer from the Gujarat cadre, has found himself at the center of a growing controversy. During my tenure as the Times of India correspondent in Gandhinagar (1997–2012), I often interacted with him. He struck me as a straightforward officer, though I never quite understood why he was never appointed to what are supposed to be top-tier departments like industries, energy and petrochemicals, finance, or revenue.

Environmental report raises alarm: Sabarmati one of four rivers with nonylphenol contamination

A new report by Toxics Link , an Indian environmental research and advocacy organisation based in New Delhi, in collaboration with the Environmental Defense Fund , a global non-profit headquartered in New York, has raised the alarm that Sabarmati is one of five rivers across India found to contain unacceptable levels of nonylphenol (NP), a chemical linked to "exposure to carcinogenic outcomes, including prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women."

PharmEasy: The only online medical store which revises prices upwards after confirming the order

For senior citizens — especially those without a family support system — ordering medicines online can be a great relief. Shruti and I have been doing this for the last couple of years, and with considerable success. We upload a prescription, receive a verification call from a doctor, and within two or three days, the medicines are delivered to our doorstep.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Revisiting Gijubhai: Pioneer of child-centric education and the caste debate

It was Krishna Kumar, the well-known educationist, who I believe first introduced me to the name — Gijubhai Badheka (1885–1939). Hailing from Bhavnagar, known as the cultural capital of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, Gijubhai, Kumar told me during my student days, made significant contributions to the field of pedagogy — something that hasn't received much attention from India's education mandarins. At that time, Kumar was my tutorial teacher at Kirorimal College, Delhi University.

A sector under siege? War and real estate: Navigating uncertainty in India's expanding market

I was a little surprised when I received an email alert from a top real estate consultant, Anarock Group , titled "Exploring War’s Effects on Indian Real Estate—When Conflict Meets Concrete," authored by its regional director and head of research, Dr. Prashant Thakur. I had thought that the business would wholeheartedly support what is considered a strong response to the dastardly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Operation Sindoor.