The recent Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2017-18 estimated
that 51.9 percent women were engaged as self-employed workers,
31.7 percent were helpers in households, and 27.9 percent were
engaged in casual labour. In urban areas, 34.7 percent women were
self-employed, 23.7 percent engaged in own account work, and 13.1
percent working as casual labour. A closer look at the migrant women
in the urban economy based on estimates derived from the PLFS
reflects that women in urban areas are mostly engaged in community,
social and personal services, manufacturing and trade, hotels and
transport and communication which are worst hit due to the
pandemic. India’s nationwide lockdown amidst the COVID-19 pandemic has
critically dislocated its migrant population. Lacking jobs and money, and with
public transportation shut down, hundreds of thousands of migrants were forced
to walk hundreds of miles back to their home villages – with some dying during
the journey. Over the last few years, India has witnessed a decline in
its female labour force participation. From 31.2 percent in 2011-12,
the number stood at 23.3 percent in 2017-18, according to the
National Sample Survey Office. Besides, 90 percent women are
engaged in low-paying jobs in the country’s huge informal sector,
without adequate coverage through labour legislations and access to
social protection. The ongoing pandemic has made things worse as it
has disproportionately affected women workers, depriving them of
access to social protection and decent work. Most of the jobs mentioned
employ migrant women who are typically from a very similar socio-economic
background as their counterparts, the migrant men. However, while the men are
so visible, the women remain conspicuously absent from the stories in the
media. Why is it that they are not seen as rushing home? Is it because they
have imbibed the notions of model citizenship as recommended by the
government? Or is it that the cities, the epitome of opportunities, have not
created possibilities for such women to claim a stake to exit as and when they
wish to.
Recently, the Ministry of Labour and Employment carried out
labour reforms for simplifying the provisions of 44 labour legislations
into four codes. We wish there will be a positive move towards women
migrant workers.
Sources: Various Newspapers and Journals