Building a construction is a example of unorganized sector why
Answers
According to India’s National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector, over 92% of India’s labour force was employed in the informal economy in 2007, and this number has been consistently increasing. This implies that more than 92% of the Indian labour force is exposed to job and income insecurity, exploitation, violation of rights and absence of effective legal protection. The construction industry is the single biggest non-agricultural industry in the capitalist world. Construction workers are, however, treated largely as second-class citizens, deprived of means to protect their dignity.
The construction sector in India is a developing sector, and in the last five decades it has witnessed a boom, especially in big cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Bangalore. Moreover, according to the National Sample Industry Organization, the growth of employment in the sector has been noteworthy; it is considered one of the most important industries for national development in Asia. A focus on the construction sector brings into the picture certain key issues related to work conditions, recruitment patterns, migration, and cycles of exploitation.
The construction sector is peculiar because it offers an example of the intermingling of formal and informal relations in the economy. For example, medium to large-scale projects require legal procedures – such as tenders from the government, legal contracts and monitoring – but at the same time employ labour on a completely casual basis. This intermingling is institutionalized within public works in a manner that retains the facade of formality and at the same time perpetuates informality.
In big cities, one comes across two kinds of labour recruitment: one for medium to large-scale projects through a long chain of middlemen, and another through labour chowks (literally, “roadside squares,” where labourers gather in the morning to be hired for various projects), which fulfill the need for small construction sites. This article deals with these two different practices of labour recruitment in the construction sector in Delhi, India’s capital. The case studies for big worksites were done in Delhi School of Economics (DSE) and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU); for small worksites, I chose three labour chowks in different areas in Delhi.
Labour Recruitment and Conditions at Big Worksites
Most big projects are alloted to private construction companies by the government’s Public Works Department. These big construction companies or contractors further sub-contract work to small contractors. Sometimes, one finds many small contractors at the same worksite. To find labourers for the big sites is quite difficult, and these contractors are dependent on middlemen. These middlemen work to find labourers for construction sites, and most of the time they find labourers from their own village, district or state. The middleman, therefore, becomes quite an important figure; he helps his fellow villagers find work in the city, and he helps the contractor get access to cheap labor, while collecting commissions from both groups.
Groups of workers are transported directly to the worksites in big groups from states where the cost of labour power is lower. The labourers are in dire need of employment and ready to enter into all sorts of exploitative agreements with contractors. It often happens that this migrant labour force, after finishing work at one construction site, stays and tries to get more work.
At the two worksites I studied, most of the labourers came from the central Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh with a middleman from the same district. These labourers are on the move constantly. Because of this insecurity, the labourers are seen as a compliant and disciplined workforce. Although the violation of basic norms and labour laws is very obvious, measures to protect the workers are rarely taken.