Economic Informal Sector and the Perspective of Informal Workers in India

The failure of providing meaningful employment is the catastrophic development failure of a country. India is a diverse economy encompasses of agriculture, handicraft, wide range of modern industries and multitude services sectors. These spacious spectrums of industries are classified under private and public sectors, but unfortunate for the nation neither the public nor the private sector is able to provide enough employment for the widening labor force. The formal sector affords to manage only marginal cult of the unemployed population although it is an informal/unorganized sector which perceived in past and is increasingly recognized as an alternative source of employment in today’s world. However, the informal/unorganized sector have prominent of problems like job security, social security, the stability of living, migration, child labour, and exploitation of working women. The worries in the informal sector are mounting and seem to be unbroken day by day. In this paper, we have taken some serious issue like migration, issues of working women in an informal sector and the child labour for the analysis. Further, we have dealt with an important concern of perception and problems of informal workers in India.


Introduction
The employment mission of International Labour Organization (ILO) to Kenya in the year 1972 brought the official existence of the word informal sector. Subsequently, the Kenya summit was known as acme of informal sector and the word informal sector was inferred to stand for tiny units engaged in the production of goods and services other than those activities which were recognized, recorded, protected or regulated by the public authorities [1]. The sector is so imperative for the economy and explorative in nature that within moment of time the sector has become an increasingly popular subject of study, not just in economics, but also in finance, sociology, anthropology, and others. Many inter-disciplinary authors and researchers start working on this sector for the reason of finding social, economic and financial problems in this sector and for the betterment and encouragement of the sector.
It is to be believed that informal sector was an important source of earning livelihood since time immemorial as there was few formal way of doing business in earlier times and rare alternate source of employment. The sector has served the society at the time when there was no another source of employment, people then as-well-as now has relied much on this sector to earn their livelihood through hard toil and skilled work. The informal sector is all about work which people carry out other than recognized work and the work performed in formal sectors. The sector is mostly concerned with the classes of people who fail to get employment in organized sector/ organized sector, due to incompetency in education, lack of interest and professionalism, ultimately such job seekers goes for the alternative source of employment to earn income, which does not fall under-recognized work that falls under the name of an informal/unorganized sector [2].
As the rising unemployment during past three decades, the drift of huge employees towards informal sector made the world increasingly familiar with the growth, persistence, and reach of informal employment across the globe. Since the sector consists of numerous rudiments, different countries and organizations have defined it differently. As per System of National Accounts (SNA), the informal sector consists of units engaged in the production of goods and services with the primary objective of generating employment and income to the person concerned. Further, National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector (NCEUS) defines informal workers as those workers in the informal sector or households, excluding regular work. In the informal sector workers are not administered with social security benefits and employment concession like the employers provide to their workers in the formal sector. These definitions clearly indicate that the sector consists of all those works which do not fall under the jurisdiction of the government of the state and were the employment interaction ensures no legal way of conduct. In this sector there is no such like fitting procedure of recruitment, selection, promotion, and social safety and development of employee. The idea of informal work is a temporary phenomenon and it will decline or may vanish over the time through formalization by earlier experts is turning out into myth which is now largely dispelled [3].
The rising India is expanding economically, industrially, and technically, at the same time its poor are struggling to survive is the common view of every sect of the society. With one foot on the mars and other in deep curses of poverty, India has not justified itself with reducing poverty in large content. As the majority of India, breadwinners say more than 70% of the workforces who contribute 50% of GDP are engaged in this sector without any job security, future assurance and undertakings. In India poverty is multidimensional, which has a direct influence on education, working life of the people and more significantly social rights of the people. Under the circumstances of miserable poverty, people without getting basic education starts to earn their livelihood to survive, but unfortunately, that leads them to the consequences which are even worse than the earlier state. The consequences of hopelessness which people met are all because of the problems of informal sector where they work and are increasing promptly with the transition of time.
Due to imprudent access and easy entry to the sector, the sector has now become synonymous with the mixture of un-fettered, poorly skilled, low-paid workers and flash food workers. This has advanced to the burden and susceptibilities to the sector, which is now recognized as unskilled and inadequately talented sector meanwhile there is no social security and mutual concern between employee and employer cut to bone the sector has become full with obscenities. The reality of the informal sector is the workers are offended by operators and mostly these workers belong to the sect of society which lives in abject poverty. The activities in informal sector are miles away from the legitimate activities in formal/organized sector. In informal sector unstructured work, exploitation of workers has become obvious, and frequent, besides that illegal working condition and illegal activities are often due to either non-applicability of existing regulations or annihilating laws. Further, the economic conditions, lack of education, lack of interest and lack of vocation knowledge are the everyday examples of informal sector [4]. Despite the fact that the problems of the informal sector are growing globally especially in the third world countries alike in Indian informal sector has reached up to the alarming situation where the protection of rights of labour force has become compulsory.
In India the people mainly poor are engaged in the informal sector in the quest of better livelihood opportunities it is analyzed that a very high proportion of underprivileged section of society is engaged in an informal sector because of an alternative source of employment and income (National Statistical Commission (NSC)) [5]. The reason between why people suffer and choose informal sector has been suggested by many experts and few of the reasons are because people don't have basic level of education and skill, to get job in formal type of sector, which has led to large-scale migration and the mushrooming of slums in several Indian cities. Furthermore, the employment growth in the organized/formal sector has always been less than the total workforce available in the country, which in result indicating a faster growth of employment in the informal sector [6].
To continue the workers working in the informal sector are characterized by the low productivity syndrome as compared to the formal sector however, it is not like that the workers working in the informal sector are unskilled, the only problem with them is, their skill is acquired outside the formal system and they did not have proper podium to prove their ability.
The sector have workers who are equally or even more educated and skilled, who work better and even longer than most of the formal workers or even the workers are working for the formal organizations under the basis of contractual, casual, and outsourced workers but their work is not getting any recognition. Formal organizations themselves are getting informal by the hire and fire policies at the crucial times. There is a need to recognize the skills of those who work for formal institutions under the tag of informal workers and then to utilize the possessed skill accordingly.

Selection of the study
Indian informal sector was selected as the study, because of the following reasons • The informal sector has large employment market in India; it contributes 50% GDP to the nation. • The informal sector at the same time has enormous problems associated with it, this is because such type of work is not controlled and organized under any legal provision. • Child labour, migration, women work participation are the important issues of today's developing market.
In this paper, data is mostly collected from Government publications, reputed journals and reports of standard Non-Government organizations.

Methodology
The informal sector is a complex area of study, as most of its records and work are unrecognized and unrecorded despite that, it was important to gather data from such complexities for the research analysis. In this paper, we use both quantitative and qualitative data and simple mathematical tools like ratio and variations are used for the appropriate investigation and considered. Further necessary figures are designed as per the requirement which is followed by the description of the figures and data.

Problems of informal sector
It is increasingly realized that lack of reliable statistics on the size, distribution and economic contribution of the informal sector has been a major constraint in providing a realistic understanding of the significance of the economy and workmen condition in the informal sector, which leads to its neglect in development planning [7]. Increased rural landlessness, growing urbanization and rapid growth of population have resulted in an expanded labour force that falls short to take up work in the organized/formal type of industries. Further, the insufficient labour laws in India encourage the problems of workers particularly the problems like no social security, no guaranteed minimum wages, and bonded labour are the outcomes of poor labour laws. In spite of growing literature in the informal sector, there are several serious issues which demand an immediate attention of the government to be addressed. The issues like increased migration, child labour. Working women and social protection are the greatest hurdles for being a developing nation these issues are the outcomes of the informal sector.

Migration
Studies elucidate that domestic migration of workers is seen throughout the world but they are more prevalent in poorer countries as compare to developed nations. Migration has been the main component of mass urbanization and this is an important issue which needed to be addressed because it can lead to greater intensify of poverty, famine, disease and conflict especially in the countries like India. India is said to be a home of poor, as most of its population lives in abject poverty and vulnerable condition. To mitigate this abject poverty people come out from their homes in search of labour and shelter this leads to the swell up of urban population because they find vestigial jobs and shelter in urban areas [8]. Besides poverty, lack of gainful employment coupled and proper living conditions in rural areas has pushed people out of their homes in search of better job opportunities and for their own existence in the cities of the countries [9]. In India we have two groups of migrant laborers, one is temporary workers overseas, and another is migration domestically on a seasonal and work availability [10]. This type of domestic migration of labour force is inevitable and very high in countries like India. This domestic migration is further divided on the origin and destination place of a migrant the migration is alienated in four major streams namely, rural to rural, rural to urban, urban to rural, and urban to urban migration [11]. Generally believed rapid growth of population has increased unemployment in most of the countries and rural areas are the one who hit hard by this unemployment. This led the foundation to two factors of the migration one is pull factor and second is the push factor.
The pull factors are those which attract an individual to migrate. Examples: employment opportunity, education, housing facilities etc. Push factors: the push factors which motivate migration are poverty, indebtedness, social outcast, unemployment, natural calamities etc.
However, the problem is not just a migration once migrated and safe forever? No it does not go like this. The complication exacerbates as migrates start living in cities, the migrants are more vulnerable to discrimination and exploitation. These discriminations are articulated in various parts of world as well as in India for the sake of ideology statehood, race, creed and the ideology of the 'sons of the soil' movement, which evokes anti-migrant sentiments [12].
Not only this, the migrants who are out of their respective homes are mostly living in penniless state, illiteracy inherits to their younger ones as no proper schooling and live in slums and hazardous locations that are prone to diseases, disaster, and natural calamities. These persisting problems doesn't does not remain stuck to migrants only; the migration issue also deteriorate the living condition of those who are residents of urban areas [11].
As shown in the above (Table 1), the migration of women is predominating the man in every census year. In the year 1971, the total migrants were 15.56 crores out of those 11 crores are women.    The ratio continuously increasing till the year 2001 and has touched the mark 21.87 crores out of the total migrants. Further, the Table 1 shows the total migrates in the past 40 years, which has to have a great emergent trend till the year 2008 and in the year 2011 the continued effort of government schemes has brought down this growing trend of migration. The above Table also shows the variation of migration since past many years. The rate of growth of migrates was 26.32 in the year 1981 and has grown further up in the year 2001 and has touched the mark of 36.96 but in the senses year 2011 the rate of migration has decreased to (-3) percent that is the migration has decreased by 10900000 and it is to be expected that the migration will be reduced further in the upcoming years by introducing different rural programs to provide sufficient employment to the rural people ( Figure 1).  has reduced migration of workforce from rural to urban at a large content. It has been proven by different researchers that MGNREGA is continuously reducing migration by providing increased employment locally and PMGSY has improved the connectivity which makes people move easily from home to workplace and back to their homes after completion of day work. The effort of such schemes reflects in the migration report of the census 2011 which shows that migration has reduced by 10900000.
Certainly, this is true that migration cannot be gridlocked and some economists believe that, to some extend migration is satisfying for the urban and for the people who actually migrates but beyond the limit this migration can be whammy for the urban development. However this growing issue of migration needs strong government policies and substantial implementation of such policies (MGNREAGA is the greatest example). The migration can be tackled down by providing employment, economic alternatives, modern farming technology, Education facilities and establishment of basic social and economic Infrastructures.

Child labor
Child labour is self-explanatory it simply means employing child (not mature in the eyes of law) in any kind of labour. Every child is a gift of God-a gift must be nurtured with care and affection, within the family and society. But unfortunately this seems to be true only in writing and reading; people nowadays are so avaricious that they always look for the opportunities of profiteering. The code of child centeredness was replaced by neglect, abuse, and deprivation this is how our society has grown [13]. The child working in an informal/ unorganized sector is not a matter of choice it is a sum total of helplessness and impecuniousness of a family. This child labour is the global round problem especially severe problem for the third world countries including India. However, some countries pulled up their socks for tackling down this problem but some still remain ignorant despite of having rules, act and policies. This is really unfortunate for India, that despite of having such a strong jurisdiction and legislation we still are categorized in the subordinate list of protecting child rights and one of top most countries in resorting child labour.
Child labour is a work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development. In simple terms, child labor harms children and keeps them away from attending school and the basic nourishment which they need in infancy. Child labour in India is a serious concern, which is growing day by day instead reducing it as other nations are doing. The government of India shows that child labor in India is declining (a little less than 5% of children) but the reality is something else. The actual problem is government itself doesn't want to act against this child labour issue because 7% of our GDP is contributed by these children. In addition to this when we look at absolute numbers, we see that more children than government records are faced with forced labor. The child labour is actually a violation of basic fundamental right it denies the right to an education and a normal childhood to the infant. However experts believe that the child labour is the payback of poverty, lack of orphan homes, lack of proper schooling, lack of vocational education, feeble jurisdiction, caste and creed system, and lack of social security and says these are the main reasons of persisting child labour in India.
However, we can't deny the fact the government of India is doing well for changing things slowly. The changes like, the government is trying to improve the quality of schools as well as making their program more practical and relevant to children's lives. Parents are motivated to send their wards to school and on that, some fellowship schemes are initiated to sustain their family. Besides that the loopholes in the law are examined for the further improvement so that the curse of child labour can be removed from the roots [14]. Though we can criticize for the policies and the way how the government is trying to bring down this mushrooming issue and ultimately nothing seems to be brought down.   The Table 2 clearly shows that child labour since 1971 has not changed much which was the alarming issues for the future India, it was 10.75 million in 1971 and it was grown up to 12.67 million in 2001; despite various laws and regulation, this curse of child labour still exists. However officially government is showing that there was a radical change in child labour in the census year 2011 which has come down to 4.35 million still it was very high and much more child laborers remains unnoticed and does not become the part of the total count. Child labour will lead to the serious problem in future, if we want cheap labour today, uneducated, and inefficient workforce will be our tomorrow, not only this the long working hours and the hazardous working environment is great health impact on child and can lead to the deadly diseases ( Figure 3).   Table 3: Percentage of child labour of male-female and comparison to total workforce with child labour (1971-2011). Table 3 shows the distribution of child labour on the basis of gender that is male and female above the age of 5 to 19 in the year 2011, the Table also shows the total proportion of child labour to total the workforce. The total workforce of child labour in an unorganized sector is 11.18%, moreover women child share more percentage in the workforce of women in an unorganized sector that is 13.55 percent of women working in an informal sector are girls under the age of 19 ( Figure 4).
The working condition in which children work is completely unregulated and they often force to work 14-16 hours a day. The modern phenomenon of using child labour as domestic workers in urban India is a serious threat to the modern economy and child health because most of the children are made to work without food and low wages. It resembles slavery. Serious issues like physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. The child at hazardous places in the informal sector is serious problems which at least now needed to be taken into notice are the protection of each and every child from being worst youngsters in future. According to UNCEF poverty encourages child labour and international labour organization (ILO) suggests the lack availability and quality of schools mostly rural areas is the root cause of child labour in India. A Child engaged in labour not only suffers educationally but also suffers physically intellectually, emotionally, and psychologically finally these child remains illiterate and have limited ability to contribute to national productivity.

Working women in an informal sector
Women share abundant responsibilities and perform a wide spectrum of duties functioning as running the family, maintaining the households, attending farm operations, tending domestic animals and helping male in artisan work. The first problem with the women work is despite of loads of work women receives zero attention and all work goes unaccounted and unnoticed. However, women work doesn't remain confined to house only, women work participation share a healthy percentage in formal and informal sector. The women participation in the labor force has risen in most countries, which is also reflected in the changing sex composition of the total labor force. Female employment in India grew by 9 million between 1994 and 2010, but the ILO estimates that it could have been increased by almost double that figure if women would have given equal access to employment in the industries and occupations as their male counterparts. Besides that ILO takes strong note that women assist their male partners/husband who are directly involved in productive distributive or services such as pottery clay and water, painting, and firing the vessels but man amounted as the potters while women are considered non-workers, as their work is invisible similarly another example is, women prepare food at home for sale by men on the streets but unfortunately goes incalculable and invisible in the economy of a state. However, some women crack the jinx and guided their career for their personal development and for the development of others but still women face difficulties at the workplace both in formal and informal sector [15]. Mostly the women in the informal sector is fronting discrimination in wages, nature of work, availability of work, on the basis of sex and lack bargaining power which is mostly exploited by the employers. The informal system has treated women as a reserve army of labour whenever or where ever informal sector need them they utilize them and once their work is over they apply the fire strategy to reduce overheads. Studies conducted in several parts of the country indicate the awful condition of women workers in the informal sector [16]. Working women in an informal sector do not have choice option to work, or not to work they just work for the desire need and for the quest of survival. In addition to this the limited opportunities available to women are mostly low paid, low-status jobs in the informal sector. These women are mostly provided jobs which do not have any possibilities of betterment, advancement of efficiency or training, to enable them to enter better jobs at a later stage [17]. Rural workers were 342 million and urban workers were 116 million. Out of the total workforce of 458 million persons, unorganized/informal sector constitute 395 million persons as on 1st January 2005 calculated based on the 61st round NSS survey. The gender differential in the proportion of workers engaged in the non-agricultural and Agricultural sector excluding Growing of Crops [18]. While male participation is high, female labour force participation (FLFP) has been dropping at an alarming rate. According to data from National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO), FLFP fell from a high point above 40% in the early-to-mid 1990s to 29. Female employment in India grew by 9 million between 1994 and 2010, but the ILO estimates that it could have increased by almost double that figure if women had equal access to employment in the same industries and occupations as their male counterparts. Despite very rapid economic growth in India in recent years, we're observing declining female labour force participation rates across all age groups, across all education levels, and in both urban and rural areas, " said ILO economist Steven Kapsos during a presentation of the report in India. Women in India tend to be grouped in certain industries and occupations, such as basic agriculture, sales, and elementary services and handicraft manufacturing. Strengthening anti-discrimination legislation in employment across all occupations will be essential for expanding employment opportunities for women.
In addition, reducing the large gaps in wages and working conditions, often observed between women and men, could help provide a boost to the number of women seeking employment. At very low levels of education and income, women have no choice but to work to help support the family. But as men in the family start earning more income, women tend to cut back their work in the formal economy to concentrate more on household activities (Table 4 and Figure 5).     Figure 6 shows the growth rate of workers in informal and formal workers category. It is observed that the growth rate of female workers both in rural as well as in urban areas is greater than male workers growth rate and within the female worker's growth rate of urban female informal workers (5.60%) is more than rural female (3.64%) between 1999-2000 and 2004-2005.

Social Protection
Social security means the overall security for a person in the family, work place, and society, we consider the social security as the continuous economic support to a human being for his or her social well-being-at least in the evening years of his/her life and at the time of his/her miseries. Social Security is a system to meet the basic needs as well as contingencies of life in order to maintain an adequate standard of living. With the progress of global world every nation is trying hard to give whatever the possible social protection to its citizens. After independence India too where keen about the social security system for the citizens but the protection so far is concerned with the sect of society only. Even India has initiated the social protection programs in 1947 still, after 70years we have not provided any assured and honorable scheme for the informal sector. Although, over the past 3 decades the large majority of the Indian workforce has joined the informal sector because of rising unemployment and scarcity of living necessities. In the face of onerous work and interest exploitation by the employer it is never denying fact that social security is not provided in the informal sector especially and adversely women workers in the informal sector have the least access to social security. However, these employees under informal sector too deserve securities like job security, work security, skill safeguarding, income security and identity recognition. Further, the unorganized workers have the following insecurity dimensions: Poverty Levels, Gender inequalities, Old aged and the child labour, Actualization of employment, No enforceable labour laws In the Indian context, Social Security is a comprehensive approach designed to prevent deprivation, assure the individual of a basic minimum income for himself and his dependents and to protect the individual from any uncertainties [19]. Social security benefits in India are need-based i.e., the component of social assistance is more important in the publicly-managed schemes. Social security concept is actually for all citizens of the nation but continuous overlook of informal sector is leading us towards the future where we found huge gap between rich and poor and then it will be very difficult for poor to live. Lack of social security to this section of workers is a serious question mark on the productivity of the entire Indian economy and has the adverse effect on private savings and future investments. The welfare of such kind of workers can only stand up out of the implementation of social security schemes and reaching every person who so need it. Government and the policy makers must think positively about the social security of people living in the nation and the concept must be thought as right rather than charity.
Formal system of social security needs much attention for the informal sector; information and awareness are the vital factors in widening the coverage of Social Security schemes. In addition to this the existing social security schemes should be reviewed for their efficient and cost effective functioning and to ensure a high level of workers' satisfaction. The emphasis must be on automation and computerization, human resource development and effective public relations besides restructuring of the organizations to undertake vastly expanded responsibility when the schemes are extended to the entire working population. A well-formulated scheme of social security for the unorganized rural labour would be designed to provide protection for contingencies resulting in stoppage or diminution of income.
However there are some social security programs, which government has brought to bring equality in the society and to braggart one who is suffering from vulnerabilities. The social security legislations for predominantly urban and for the organized that currently available in the country are: However, the existing welfare schemes of the unorganized sector being widely scattered and fragmented, attempts would be made to properly integrate these schemes. Labour regarding social security for the workers in the rural unorganized sector would be examined. The role of social security in the context of the restructuring of an economy would bare-examined. The public relation system in the two social security organizations not being very effective, the campaign would be organized for education about these programs and training programs would be attempted for employers, employees and for their organizations. For improving the efficiency of the social security organizations proper Human Resource Development system would be evolved, use of computers would be increased and improved public relations [20][21][22][23]].

Discussion and Conclusion
The basic crux of is the absence of regulation and incorporation. This paper has highlighted four major issues that are issue related to working women, child labour, migration, and social security, which are the backbone problems of informal sector. These highlighted disadvantages of informal sector are being practiced every day in informal sector and exploitation has become everyday stuff of owners who engage labour in work. Workers abuse in informal sector is at every stage, they do not get what they deserve. Even contractors, subcontractors and material suppliers and more exploit workers for their personal interest without caring about one who actually does cumbersome work. However, government and the public know each and everything about the adversities of informal sector still none of the associations or government organizations are coming forward for the responsibility for the safeguard informal workers.
The government can also give special attention to improving measures of those working at home, on the street, or in the open air and must take keen interest about the educational right of those who are put in child labour. Statistically it has been found that variables such as social security, issues of working women and issues migration are directly related to the welfare of economy and child labour, growing migration are indirectly related to future problems. The overall development of workers of informal employment, it is an important variable I analyzing the composition and characteristics of informal employment.
• The organized sector could not keep pace with the growing workforce, and the employment elasticity of output produced in the organized sector is declining continuously over time from 0.56 in 1972-73 to 0.38 during Ninth Plan". • It is indeed striking that women migrates are more than the men, this high ratio definitely shows that women are more responsible for the families but at the same time women are exposed to more risk at workplace and gets exploited at to the maximum. • Informal sector plays an important and controversial role, it provides employment to numerous population but at the same time exploits the rights of workers such as more working hours with less payments, unsafe working environment, difference between male and female workers, using child labour without giving damn to law and rights of the country and more importantly no guarantee of job in future. • Relatively informal sector provides high percentage of employment to the susceptible people of India • Social security legislation that covers the poorest section of the workforce must be universal in its reach and coverage and must provide for such benefits that are caused by the inability to access gainful employment. By implication, a universal social security benefit must be aimed at all citizens and not just workers. Core benefits as defined as the minimum provision of benefits must by their very nature be non-contributory. • The Government must formulate a strategy which is to not to utilize only it show apparatus, but also non-governmental organization and other concerned sections to design a credible comprehensive and workable social security package for unorganized women workers of India. Otherwise, social security in informal sector will be a myth.