Labour Issues in India - Brief Description
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[size=18:9e66fd82e7]Labour Issues in India - brief overview[/size:9e66fd82e7]
Absenteeism and Labour Turnover
For many industries, lack of trained labour force is a problem. However, these problems are compounded by the fact that there are multitudes of unemployed potential labourers who, however, do not have the adequate skills for the job. Additionally, many do not also have the means to market themselves, or to make themselves available for jobs. Hence, lack of availability of labour is not merely a demand-supply problem, it has deeper socio-economic roots that need to be looked at from various perspectives.
However, in many organized sectors where the demand for labour has been effectively met, absenteeism and huge turnover of labourers bring about their own problems. In many cases, absenteeism is prevalent in PSUs and government owned organizations. Causes are many, and include unionism, lack of ownership and participation, availability of alternate employment, misuse of benefits and remuneration and sometimes, lack of effective management control.
Women Employee Problems
Since time immemorial and despite the vast cultural and historical richness of our country, women are still considered less capable than men where labour is concerned. Of course, the reasons are cultural and socio-economic. Firstly, women are not considered physically fit for labour, and are often relegated to menial tasks. This deprives them of adequate compensation. Secondly, physical activity continues beyond working hours, in the household, depriving them of rest. A sacrificial mindset also makes them susceptible to malnutrition and poor health, which again affects their livelihood. Therefore, it is hard for women to actually come out of this vicious cycle in which they are trapped, simply because of their gender. The challenge is to change the mindset of a society which still sees women labourers more as beasts of burden.
However, there has been some progress which has been achieved with active government and NGO intervention. In many established companies and industries in the private sector, gender is not a consideration for employment and is neither are women employees and labourers discriminated against for pay or opportunity. In fact, in socially aware business houses like the Tatas, gender equality is an important part of their triple-bottom line concept, which enshrines equal opportunity for all, irrespective of caste, creed, gender, religion, nationality or ethnicity.
Despite these minor but significant positive stories, women continue to receive an unequal deal in the labour sector.
Child labour
According to the 1991 Census, the number of working children in the country was
of...