ISF seminar demands rights of unorganised sector workers 

Asangathit Mazdoor Abhiyan’ was a session hosted by National Campaign Committee for Unorganised Sector Workers, Bal Vikas Dhara, ActionAid and Volunteers for Social Justice at the recently concluded India Social Forum. This event addressed issues of rights and entitlements of ALL groups of workers in the sector. 

There are 37 crore (370 million) unorganised workers in India, several crore of whom are women. Experts said that while the sector accounts for 65% of national income (GDP), the labour that constitutes it is grossly neglected and unprotected. Bonded labour, child labour, exploitation of women labourers, poverty and deprivation prevail. 

As the unorganised workforce swells with the boom in urban construction, the need for laws to provide social security cover and regulate and protect income and livelihoods becomes ever more pressing. 

Other special sessions at the ISF focused on the rights and voices of particular worker’s groups:

• Construction workers

• Agriculture workers

• Rag pickers

• Domestic workers