A Structured Casualness Of Informal Sector Workers In Kanchipuram District, Tamil Nadu

Abstract

The present paper attempts to discuss the nature of employment of informal sector workers in Madurai district, their wage fixation, wage structure, its determinants and working conditions of different categories of informal sector workers. This chapter is organised under the following headings for the purpose of analysis. Nature of employment, Wage fixation and wage structure , Determinants of wage. The informal sector account for more than 90 per cent of the workforce in the country and almost 50 per cent of the national income evolves from this sector . Ever since the initiation of the liberalization policies in the early nineties, informalisation of jobs has become a matter of concern. Growing competition combined with increased market opportunities and limited resources have led to the emergence of an informal economy. The predominance of the informal sector has led to a situation of the benefits of economic growth being concentrated among few with a growing proportion of the population living as working poor. A comparison was made between State-wise distribution of informally employed in the manufacturing sector vis-à-vis the labour reform index which shows that even when the labour reform index is high indicating that even in States like Gujarat where the stringency of labour regulations was lowered by procedural changes, simplifying compliance and limiting scope of regulations, the jobs that were created in the manufacturing sector were informal in nature. Similar is the case with Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. Irrespective of labour reforms being a hindrance or otherwise, extent of informal employment was more than 90 per cent in the major industrial States. These findings only indicate that labour reforms alone will not reduce informalisation.