CHAPTER III

PROBLEMS FACED BY WOMEN WORKERS IN UNORGANISED SECTOR IN

Though statistics reveal the increase in women's employment in Kerala's 'informal' sector, this employment is
more in the nature of casual and irregular, contractual labour. Moreover, though women's earnings contribute
substantially to the household, this is more often than not considered as substantial. Women, especially in the
lower classes and the lower castes, not only have to cope with physical hardships that impact their health, they
continue to be paid much lower wages than men in the same category.

Unorganised sections of society, particularly engaged in cottage and rural industry, have suffered considerable
neglect. The two case studies of organising mat weavers of Kodungallur and potters of Aruvacode in Kerala record
and narrate interventions to uplift these sections above poverty level. The Hind Mazdoor Kisan Panchayat by
organising 5,000-members that put an end to starvation, indebtedness and suicide among women mat weavers of
Kodungallur, while the Dastkari Haa Samiti, through re-training the highly-skilled potter women of Aruvacode, and
marketing their wares to the middle class echelons, prevented the women from facing to prostitution. Though these
efforts have helped to combat the adverse effects of structural adjustment policy on these two communities, policy
support from state and central agencies is equally essential for such interventions to sustain over longer periods.

There is a vast difference between the idealised concept of women and their real-life situation. Women's
biological and social reality has created several distinct roles for her in the society that of daughter, wife,
mother, sister, homemaker, worker, citizen, etc. She provides a peaceful atmosphere for the family and the
society. Her earnings are the survival and livelihood of a large number of families. The woman is the inspiring
force and genius of the home. Man and woman are made for one another, and they are like two halves of
humanity in completing a perfect whole.

Majority of the women informal sector workers are engaged in traditional activities such as agriculture,
animal husbandry, chips making, pickle making, garment making, etc. Such activities are always characterised
by traditional technologies, low capital, seasonal work, etc. Women engaged in these activities have more
unexplored potential inherent in them. But these potentials are neither admired nor explored within the family or
by the society. They are the most vulnerable to various types of exploitations and atrocities. Therefore it is quite
inevitable to make them empowered in all respects to get them involved in various economic activities with
great confidence. Our former president of India Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam once said, Women had an important
role to play in the mission to transform the country into a developed nation by 2020. In a message on the eve of
an international women's day, Dr. Kalam said, women were a source of inspiration for the family, society and
ultimately for the nation.

Gender inequalities have resulted in the concentration of women in unorganised sectors and unequal pay
for equal work. Women are mostly considered as weaker than men, and hence they require social and economic
protection. This attitude has constrained their mobility and consequently lack of opportunities for development
of their personalities. So women have lagged behind in the field of education, skill development and
employment and hence their work is greatly undervalued in economic terms. Therefore women need to be
empowered economically, socially and politically. Concerted efforts are needed to empower women to get
involved in all aspects of development. Empowerment of women is considered as an important responsibility of
every Government.

The role of women in the informal sector is well recognised, and the informal sector is generally outside
the regulatory framework of the government, labour laws are hardly enforced. There is a positive correlation
between economic development and women's workforce. When women's workforce and savings increase,
women can play an active role in decision-making and strengthen economic rationality. The distinction between
formal and informal employment is of particular importance for policy-oriented monitoring on gender issues.
Women constitute only 25% labour force in India. According to the indicators of development identified by the
World Bank (1994), there are only 25 females in the labour force for 100 males as against ratio of 38 females
for 100 males in the developed countries. NSSC has defined work as gainful activity pursued for family gain or
in other words the activity adds value to the rational product. Normally it is an activity which results in
production of goods and services for exchange. More than 90% of the women workers are concentrated in the
unorganized sector.

Unemployment is the major threat on the development of Kerala and educated unemployment has
assumed alarming proportions in recent times. Gender difference in educated unemployment is also increasing
substantially. The industrial as well as the traditional sectors are loosing their hold as labour generators. The
state is withdrawing from the education sector and the people are losing chances for higher education. Job
opportunities for unskilled and partially skilled workers are becoming lesser in government and public sectors.
People prefer only white-collar jobs. Educated are not attracted towards manual and blue-collar jobs. Between
1971 & 1978 the absorption of labour in the organized sector was only around 10 to11% of the annual increase
in labour force, while the rest 90% either drift to informal sector or unorganized sector.
 Despite considerable modernization and advance on the road to industrialization, most of the cities and
industrial centers in the developing countries continues to have a large and in some cases increasing proportions
of their activities in the informal and the non-organized units. It is presumed that this sector makes a greater use
of abundantly available human labour with no rigid bars on entry. The supply of the labour in the informal
sector is mostly new entrants in the labour market, migrant or young persons, especially women .Social
characteristics and extra economic constraints makes women increasingly vulnerable to poverty and at the time
of entry into the labour market the labour market is exploiting women.

The unorganised sector plays a vital role in providing employment opportunities to a large segment of the
workforce in India. In most states, the share of informal workers is approximately the same as the national
average of liberalisation; undoubtedly there is a marginal increase in the participation of women in labour force
around the globe. These trends are largely being recognised as 'feminisation of labour'. A Man is incomplete
without a woman; she is the nucleus of the family and forms half of the human society. Universally, it has been
realized that women play an important role in building the backbone of a nation's economy.