: Opinion: Protecting unorganised workforce #IndiaNEWS #News By Dr K Srinivasa Rao With the change in the operating ecosystem driven by technology and the evolution of the gig working community, the

Opinion: Protecting unorganised workforce #IndiaNEWS #News
By Dr K Srinivasa Rao
With the change in the operating ecosystem driven by technology and the evolution of the gig working community, the archaic labour laws need reforms. The possibility of process reforms, automation and enhanced scope to use tools like artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning and robotics calls for improved capacity of the workforce. The industry now needs new skillsets. The present era of Industrial Revolution 4. 0 in a globally connected world is talent-driven for improved competitiveness. In the milieu, the formal sector of employment is shrinking with the private sector increasingly engaging labour with specific skills through authorised agencies.
As per international definitions, informal sector enterprises are those owned by individuals or households that are not constituted as separate legal entities independently of their owners. The Indian labour market is characterised by the predominance of informal employment with the occasional seasonal engagement of labour in the farm sector.
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, (MGNREGA) was designed to provide minimum 100 days of assured guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every household whose adult member volunteers to do unskilled manual work. It provided employment opportunities and helped in poverty reduction in the hinterland.
Labour Status
According to the Labour Ministry, 43. 7 crore workforce is in the ‘unorganised sector’ as against the total workforce of 46. 5 crore, ie, close to 94%. The workforce in India is the second largest in the world after China. Only 2. 8 crore are in formal employment with some kind of social security. By its very definition, the unorganised sector and workers need better protection against exploitation. Another interesting feature of the labour force is the emergence of gig or platform workers engaged in the service sector.
According to the recent report of Niti Aayog on ‘Indias Gig and Platform Economy’, it is estimated that in 2020–21, 77 lakh workers were engaged in the gig economy. They constituted 2. 6% of the non-agricultural workforce or 1. 5% of the total workforce in India. The gig workforce is expected to expand to 2. 35 crore workers by 2029–30 and form 6. 7% of the non-agricultural workforce or 4. 1% of the total livelihood in India by 2029–30.
At present, about 47% of the gig workers are in medium-skilled jobs, about 22% in high-skilled and 31% in low-skilled jobs. The trend shows the concentration of workers in medium skills is gradually declining and that of the low-skilled and high-skilled is increasing. With such change in the pattern, their protection is important and calls for labour reforms.

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