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REPORT:
WOMEN HOME BASED WORKERS:
By
SRISHTI DIXIT
(RAMJAS COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF DELHI)
PRAGYA SHARMA
(RAMJAS COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF DELHI)
SHASHANK KOTHARI
(RAMJAS COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF DELHI)
MARCH 2014
E-MAILS:
2
ACKNOWLEDGMENT WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK MR. ALOK DASH, OUR PROJECT ADVISOR,
FOR HIS IMMENSE CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS THIS PROJECT.
WE ARE GRATEFUL TO HIM FOR SHARING HIS CONSTRUCTIVE IDEAS,
CRITIQUES, CONTACTS AND CONSTANT SUPPORT THROUGH EVERY
STAGE OF THIS PROJECT.
WE THANK DR. SONIA GOEL FOR GUIDING US ON VARIOUS ASECTS OF
THE PROJECT.
WE APPRECIATE THE ASSISTANCE PROVIDED BY DR. PAWAN KUMAR
AND DR. LOKENDRA KUMAWAT.
WE ALSO EXTEND OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO MS. ALBINA SHAKIL,
PROFESSOR, BHARTI COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF DELHI, FOR MAKING
POSSIBLE OUR ASSOCIATION WITH THE ALL INDIA DEMOCRATIC
WOMEN’S ASSOCIATON.
WE THANK MS. SEHBA FAROQUI FOR HELPING US REACH OUR TARGET
SAMPLE AREAS.
3
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENT ............................................................................... 2
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................... 4
INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 5
DESCRIPTION OF THE OBJECT OF STUDY................................................. 7
METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................... 8
MAIN FINDINGS .................................................................................... 10
SELF HELP GROUPS ............................................................................... 26
ATTEMPTS TO CREATE SHGs ................................................................. 27
THE RECEPTION OF SHGs BY THE SAMPLE ............................................ 29
COMPARISON WITH LABOUR LAWS...................................................... 19
CONCLUSIVE DISCUSSION ..................................................................... 26
BIBLOGRAPHY ....................................................................................... 36
QUESTIONNAIRE ................................................................................... 37
4
ABSTRACT The main objective of this report is to look into the lives of women
home based workers. We try and highlight the deplorable condition
that the female home based workers live in.
We intend to increase our understanding of the socio-economic
conditions of such workers. We try to look into the production process,
incomes, expenditures, working conditions of such women in light of
the labour laws.
We proceed further and talk about the possibility of having self help
groups (SHG’s) as a financial support to such women.
To conclude, we try to bring to everyone’s notice, the exploitation that
is done by the middlemen and the contractors of the women workers.
5
INTRODUCTION In 1999-00, amongst workers in all ages, there existed 29.2 million
home-based non-agricultural workers, constituting 20.9% of the total
non-agricultural workforce. There were only 12.6 million women home-
based workers; however, they constituted 45% of the women non-
agricultural workforce. At the national level, 5.4% of the total non-
agricultural workforce and 16% of the women non-agricultural
workforce were engaged in sub-contract homework. However this data
is incomplete as it underreports or excludes home-based workers
working on piece rate basis alone.1
The home based working sector is rising ever since, however absolute
data to reflect the same is hard to collect as the questions pertaining to
calculate the home based workers are still being structured. The rise in
this sector, especially for women, can be seen as an effort to reduce
costs through flexible contracts, meagre piece rates and irregular
payment claims as seen in the paper. Rani and Unni (2009) in an
attempt to study impacts of policies on female home based workers
find that a rise in the unit cost of labour is associated with an increase
in female home-based work at the macro level. Thus the ‘invisibility’ of
these workers needs to be reduced.
The based on the importance of these issues, we study the home based
workers through this report.
The report contains the results of the study conducted by above
mentioned students of department of Economics, Ramjas College under
the guidance of their project mentor Mr. ALOK DASH. 1 NSSO. 2001, Non-agricultural Workers in Informal Sector based on Employment-Unemployment Survey, 1999-00
6
The purpose of the study is looking into the lives of home
based/piece rate women workers. We attempt to understand the
kind of work do these workers do and why do they do it. How do
these workers find the work/whom do they work for? What is the
work process (hours put in, technology, years of experience,
assistance by family members, shifts in work etc)? Through this
survey we also assess the level of awareness among such women
about the chain of production they are a part of (Source of
procurement of raw material, stages of production, value added by
such women, area of sale of final product). We also assess the
financial conditions of such families (calculating approximate
incomes and expenditures). It is a part of our study to find how
(often) these women are remunerated and the contribution of home
based work done by such women to the total family income.
Another issue of relevance to our study is how often middlemen
cater to the demands, requirements and needs of these workers. We
also assess the knowledge of these women about the concept of self
help groups (SHG’s) and the feasibility and possibility of setting up
SHG’s in this sector. Some other issues like, analysing the interest of
these women to be a part of an SHG and ability of self help groups to
be a source of financial support to such women are addressed in this
study. Finally, we also assess this sector in the light of international
and national labour laws. Assessing the entire production process
and appraising the level of remuneration such women receive is an
important component of our study to find if there is any exploitation
done against such workers.
7
DESCRIPTION OF THE OBJECT OF STUDY
The project keeps home based workers at the centre of its analysis. Home based workers are taken as the object of study throughout the report. To understand the term ‘home based workers’ a definitional meaning is provided. The definition which has been taken up was formed by the Independent Group on Home-Based Workers in India, set up in 2007 by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation of the Government of India.
Home-based workers are defined as a) own-account workers and contributing family workers helping the own-account workers, involved in the production of goods and services, in their homes, for the market and b) workers carrying out work in their homes for remuneration, resulting in a product or service as specified by the employer(s), irrespective of who provides the equipment, materials or other inputs used, and those contributing family workers helping such workers.2
2 www.wiego.org (Women in Informal Employment: globalizing and organizing).
8
METHODOLOGY The survey was conducted by the method of individual interview. First
hand information was collected by talking individually with women
home based workers residing in various blighted areas of Delhi. The
first section of the field work (pilot survey) was conducted in October
2013 followed by the survey conducted from January to march 2014.
The questionnaire to conduct the survey was developed after visiting
sample fields (pilot survey), discussing questions with professors of D.U.
and women rights activists. The questionnaire was reviewed and
approved by our project mentor in December 2013.
Areas of visit included slums, wholesale markets, factories, conventions
of (All India democratic women’s association) inter alia.
To name the prominent areas of conducting survey:
Industrial area of Seelampur, East Delhi.
Wholesale market of Sadar bazaar.
Slums of
Mukherjee Nagar (Gopalpur)
Wazirabad,
Chandni Chowk
9
JJ colony, Ashok Vihar
Individuals interviewed included women rights activists, factory
owners; women home based workers and their families. 35 home
based workers interviewed along with their families effectively
answered the questionnaires. Each interview lasted 30 minutes, in
average.
The data so gathered was then compiled and analyzed under various
heads of relevance.
10
MAIN FINDINGS The informal sector forms a substantial part of the Indian economy. The
National Council of Applied Economic Research estimates that the
informal sector contributes about 62% of the total GDP (Gross
Domestic Product) of India3. The workers follow an obsolete and crude
form of production techniques. Unanimously the samples reported
stagnation in the process of production and dismissed any notion of
advancement in the techniques or tools being used in the process. An
average worker in our surveyed sample spent about 6.5 hours a day
working, with most of the women working for about 4-6 hours, (refer
figure 1) in addition to the house hold chores. To aid them, many a
times they are assisted by their family members, generally their
children, elderly or even neighbours. About 70% of the surveyed
women agreed getting assistance of some sort. Thus not only theirs,
but time and efforts of many other people go into the production.
3Raja Junankar et al. The Informal Labour Market in India: Transitory or Permanent Employment for
Migrants(2012).
11
Figure 1
Most of the women start at a very young age, with 15 being the
youngest age as observed in our data, and continue to work up to old
age (with 70 being the oldest working age observed). On an average,
the duration that the women have been working for is 11.3 years with a
standard deviation of 9.2 years. The high degree of variation pertains to
the fact that the samples were randomly selected and differed greatly
in age, with maximum age being 60 years, minimum being 22 years and
the average being roughly 33 years.
More than half of these women reported that the kind of work they get
is seasonal and there in no assurance of continual work (refer figure 2).
Almost all the women in the sample have seen a shift in their work
because of a seasonal shift or due to decreasing demands of the
product. The women get work from a contractor close by who provides
0 2 4 6 8 10
0-2
2-4
4-6
6-8
8-10
10-12
12-14
Hours spent
Hours spent
12
them with the basic raw materials required for the work and collects
the finished goods at an agreed upon time. However these women
sometimes need to put in a little amount of capital in the work in the
form of small tools needed for production such as needles for sewing,
wax for pasting, staplers etc.
Figure 2
Almost all the women complained of physical hardship due to the work
which ranged from a simple needle cut through candle burns and deep
cuts to lowered visibility due to continual intricate work. The work
environment was dismal with their shanty homesteads doubling up as
their workplace. Only 14% of the women had previously stepped
outside to work in factories while the others have worked out of their
homes throughout. The main reason given by these women to take up
piece rate work was to supplement the income of their husbands.
56%
44%
Type of work
seasonal
perennial
13
About 82% of the women conceded this fact and cited the main reason
for doing this work as the need to increase their household incomes to
make ends meet (refer figure 3).
Figure 3
Even though the main reasons for getting into this work was helping
the chief wage earner (CWE) of the family4, there occurred instances
wherein the worker herself was the chief wage earner of the family. In
other cases where the women are not the chief wage earners, the
average earnings of their husbands revolved around the mean of INR
6500 per month. Most of these women also reported that their
husbands have varying levels of income and that their work is seasonal
too. Barring an exception of one or two women, none of their husbands 4 Chief wage earner is defined as the person who contributes the highest percentage to the family income.
76%
6%
18%
Reasons for work
supplement income
CWE
other
14
were employed with a fixed wage. Thus the family income as a whole
dwindled greatly. According to a study by R Junankar et al.5 about 31%
of the informal sector workers were below the poverty line6.
One question that evaded us was the monthly income that these
women earned owing to the fact that none of the workers in the
sample had a fixed time for disbursement of piece rate wages and there
was very high level of irregularities in the payment system. The
irregularity stems from the fact that the contractors paid them only
when a certain amount of money (again not a fixed amount) was
accrued to these women.
Another impediment faced by these workers is the stagnation of piece
rates. Out of the surveyed lot, only the women involved in the
production of hair buns did state a rise in the per piece wage in the last
decade that too by a meager 50 paisa/dozen. These women form less
than 40% of the total surveyed population while the rest of the workers
informed of no increment of any sort. The underlying reason for wage
stagnation appears to be the huge supply of the labour in the market.
Another factor that affected their ability to demand for high wages was
the low level of awareness amongst the workers regarding the prices of
the finished product and the costs of the raw material. Hardly 16% of
the women were aware of the final prices of the goods or of the cost of
the raw materials (refer figure 4). Also no woman was aware about the
level of wages that the formal sector employees get for the same work.
The overall awareness level thus remained low.
5 See Junankar et al. (2012).
6 Definition of poverty line is taken from the reports of the planning commission.
15
Keeping in mind the average income of the CWE, it seems prudent to
also look at the average household expenditure. Monthly expenditure
of 31 families could be calculated and the average expenditure stood at
around INR 7400 per month. Comparing the average incomes (of the
CWE) and average monthly expenditure, we get a deficit of INR 900 per
month. This deficit is often fuelled by loans from neighbours or
relatives which is repaid as and when some surplus is created, the
surplus generally experienced in the months when the women workers
get their payments.
Figure 4
According to a study by A.K. Naik, about 92% of the total employment
in the years 2004-05 was in the informal sector7. The average annual
7 A.K. Naik Informal sector and informal workers in India (2009).
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
price of the finished product cost of the raw materials
aware
unaware
16
growth rate of workers in the sector from 1999-00 to 2004-05 stood at
around 2.89% whereas the same parameter for women worker stood at
3.78%. This data clearly suggests the sheer magnitude of labour
absorbed in the informal sector, particularly the women workforce.
Even then the said sector is unregulated and no labour law, national or
international, is applied here. The women get no benefits and
compensations under the various laws such as the Industrial
Employment Act 19468, Minimum Wages Act 1948, Workmen’s
Compensation Act 1923, etc. Moreover the share of unpaid labour in
India in the informal sector is extremely high, with the percentage for
unpaid labour in 2000-01 standing at a staggering 43%9. Furthermore,
many observers have reported about the shortcomings of the census to
inculcate the workers in the informal sector (particularly the women
workforce) and thereby resulting in a gross underreporting.
The contractors generally benefit from such a set up where in they save
on the cost of setting up and running a factory. Moreover they need
not comply with various regulations stated in acts like the Industrial
Dispute Act, 194710. In addition to the saved costs of rent and other
necessities, they cut down their expenditure on labour remuneration
substantially. Current minimum wages for un-skilled workers in Delhi
stands at INR 808611 (as on 1.04.2013), whereas these women don’t get
regularly paid every month let alone being paid as per the minimum
wage standards. Moreover due to high supply of such labour, the piece
rate that prevails in the market is totally controlled by the contractor. In
8 This act requires that the employers draw up contracts citing the working hours, leaves etc. and also includes the
retrenchment procedure. 9 See Indrani Mazumdar (2005).
10 Industrial Dispute Act, 1947 along with the Industrial Tribunal Rules 1949, 1954 and the Industrial Disputes Rules
1957. 11
http://www.delhi.gov.in/wps/wcm/connect/doit_labour/Labour/Home/Minimum+Wages/
17
our survey, when asked whether the women ever asked for a raise in
prices, all the women agreed to have asked the contractor without
results to increase the piece rate. The contractors have the higher hand
while negotiations due to the sheer magnitude of the available labour.
Furthermore, this back breaking work is not awarded with any kind of
medical benefits and/or compensation in case of any mishap as noted
earlier.
To sum up, the workers in the home based sector don’t get timely,
regular or even fair wages for the huge amount of time they invest in
this work. There has been no improvement in either this kind of
structure or in the attitude of the government towards this sector
despite many observers criticizing the same. The technology used is
crude and obsolete and the wages have failed to catch up with the
increasing costs of life. There is no job security and the awareness
amongst the workers regarding the work that they do is shallow to say
the least.
Many authors have suggested many solutions to the problems of the
women workers with the most important point being that of a clear
classification of the home based piece rate workers. Incoherence and
ambiguity in this matter will only lead to the piece rate workers being
exploited by the contractors even more and would also provide
hindrance to the objective of providing clear legislative framework for
the said workers which exhaustively takes into account all the hardships
and problems faced by them.
Another point mentioned is setting up a minimum wage for the home
based workers. Though many such minimum wage criteria were formed
18
such as by the ILC in 1956, the implementation of the same has been
haphazard and such criteria are not followed as of today12.
Many organizations for helping women workers are up and running, for
example AIWDA (All India Women Development Association), WEIGO
(Women in Informal Employment Globalizing and Organizing) etc. and
there has been a spurt in the growth of such organizations both in
number and in size.
12
See Mazumdar (2005).
19
COMPARISON WITH LABOUR LAWS LABOUR LAWS
Labour law is defined as a law that mediates the relationship between
workers (employees), employers, trade unions and the government.
Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship between
employee, employer and union. Individual labour law concerns
employees' rights at work and through the contract for work.
Employment standards are social norms or technical standards for the
minimum socially acceptable conditions under which employees or
contractors are allowed to work. Government agencies enforce labour
law (legislative, regulatory, or judicial).
INDIAN LABOUR LAWS
Indian labour law refers to laws regulating labour in India. Traditionally
Indian governments at federal and state level have sought to ensure a
high degree of protection for workers, but in practice, legislative rights
only cover a minority of workers. India is a federal form of government
and because labour is a subject in the concurrent list of the Indian
Constitution, labour matters are in the jurisdiction of both central and
state governments13. Both central and state governments have enacted
laws on labour relations and employment issues.
13 Source: www.wikipedia.org
20
When it comes to laws on home based workers in India, unfortunately,
there is no specific law relating to home-based workers in Indian
legislation. However, an act governing the unorganized sector labour
laws was formed in 2008, called the Unorganised Workers' Social
Security Act 2008.
This law was specifically enacted to provide social security to workers in
the enormous unorganized sector which included home-based, self-
employed and daily wage workers. The contents of the act provided for
constitution of National Social Security Board at the Central level which
was set up in August 2009. The functions of the board included
recommendation of various social security schemes for the benefit of
the above mentioned workers. Social security schemes to cover various
facets were to be recommended including areas like life and disability
cover, health and maternity benefits, old age protection and any other
benefit as may be determined by the Government for unorganised
workers.
Through the survey, we also intended to find whether the constituent
families of our sample had benefitted from any such social security
scheme or whether they availed any such social security or not.
Provided below are the names of social security schemes for the
unorganized sector in accordance with SCHEDULE 1, section 2(i) and (3)
of the above mentioned act.
S. No. Name of the scheme
1. Indira Gandhi national old age pension scheme*
2. National family benefit scheme*
3. Janani suraksha yojna*
4. Handloom weavers’ comprehensive welfare scheme
21
5. Handicraft artisans’ comprehensive welfare scheme
6. Pension for master craft person
7. National scheme for welfare of fishermen and training and extension
8. Janshree bima yojna*
9. Aam admi bima yojna*
10. Rashtriya swasthya bima yojna*
The schemes marked with (*) applied to the individuals/families which
were surveyed under this project.
It was found that none of the women in our sample had benefitted
and/or were aware about any such scheme.
Among various acts that have been enacted for the organized sector in
India, following acts have been extended to cover the unorganized
sector according to schedule 2, section 2(m) of the above mentioned
act.
S. No. Name of the act 1. The workmen’s compensation act, 1923 (8 of 1923)
2. The industrial disputes act,1947 (14 of 1947)
3. The employees’ state insurance act, 1948(34 of 1948)
4. The employees’ provident funds and miscellaneous provisions act, 1952
5. The maternity benefit act, 1961 (53 of 1961)
6. The payment of gratuity act,1972 (39 of 1972)
Unfortunately, none of these women knew about existence of any such
act and were not benefitted by them even when they are home based
workers according to the definition14 given by the government of India
14
definition given in the section ‘object of study’ of the report
22
and the provisions of the Unorganised Workers' Social Security Act
2008 applies to home based workers according to the statement of the
act15.
On questioning as to why these women are not availing the benefits of
provisions made for workers like them, answers can be following:
LACK OF AWARENESS:
As already mentioned, these women are unaware of the existence
of any such schemes and acts. Many of the women working in this
sector are uneducated or have attained only primary education.
LACK OF INFORMATION GENERATED BY GOVERNMENT:
Having created the law is not a one step solution for betterment
of home based workers but just a formality. The government lacks
on generating information about such benefits via social media,
television promotions, radio messages etc. for women who are
illiterate and cannot read newspapers, access internet.
EXPLOITATION ON PART OF CONTRACTORS:
In organized sector, the corporations themselves follow the
guidelines on labour laws. The responses recorded in the survey
suggest that the contractors who provide these women with such
work do not inform them about any such act. It was also found 15 chapter 2,definition (m) of
http://labour.gov.in/upload/uploadfiles/files/ActsandRules/SocitySecurity/TheUnorganisedWoekersSocialSecurity
Act2008.pdf
Stating “unorganized worker “means a home based worker, self employed worker or a wage worker in the
unorganized sector and includes a worker in the organized sector who is not covered by any of the acts mentioned
in schedule 2 of this act.
23
that whenever these women raised questions, they were not
given any satisfactory response. They were told if they question
about their rights they would employ others in place of them.
NO REGISTRATION:
The work performed by these women adds value to the final
goods to be included in the GDP but their contribution is not
recognized. These women are scattered and don’t have a voice to
represent them. There is no ready mechanism to reach these
women as they are not registered as performers of such work
even though they contribute a lot to value addition in the final
product. Therefore, they are also called invisible workers.
An important constituent of labour laws is the minimum wage act.
According to the act, central and state governments put a floor to the
wages that are paid to workers in organized and unorganized sectors.
According to the latest amendment to the minimum wage act carried
out in 2014, the national minimum wage floor is set at 115 rupees per
day for workers in unorganized sector also.
The results of the survey lie nowhere near following the guidelines of
the amendment.
The following results have been found after surveying the sample:
LOW PIECE RATE:
The piece rate that there women are paid is very low. Taking
example, piece rate of making judas is INR 1.50/dozen. In order to
receive 31116 rupees per day, they need to stitch 2488 judas in a
16
It is the daily equivalent of minimum wage rate prevalent in Delhi.
24
day. This work cannot be performed in 8 hours which is the upper
time limit of work according to the labour laws. Hence, through
this, it can be inferred that these women are paid much less than
the floor level of daily minimum wage.
NO FIXED FREQUENCY OF PAYMENT:
Upon questioning, these women could not tell how often they are
paid. There was no monthly, fortnight, weekly setup for payment.
The response that was recorded mostly stated that they asked for
payment once a specific amount (ranging from 200-500 INR) was
accrued after months of daily hard work. They also many a times,
waited for festivals to ask for their dues.
BURDEN OF WORK:
Sometimes, when a heavy order was received by the contractors,
the burden was directly shifted to these workers. As an instance,
10kgs of toffees were to be wrapped by a single woman within a
time limit of a day.
This brings to our notice how neither the government nor the
contractors provide for the social security of these workers.
Widespread exploitation in various aspects has been recorded on part
of contractors and negligence on the part of the government. Labour
laws are not in a position to reach out to the workers included in the
sample and they are not benefitted by their enactment.
Having considered the issues facing these women, we now take up
possible solutions. We analyse the ability of self help groups in proving
a feasible solution to the problems being faced by these workers. Many
of the women or even male piece rate workers have started or are
25
trying to start an SHG (Self Help Group), that is, they pool in their
resources and continue to work on a larger scale thereby harnessing
the benefits of economies of scale and risk hedging. The viability and
applicability of the same is discussed in the section that follows.
26
SELF HELP GROUPS A Self-help group can be defined as the agglomeration of people
preferably sharing the same socio- economic background who’ve come
together to provide one another a mutual aid to curb the problems
common to all. Generally it consists of 15-20 members. A self-help
group is sometimes also seen acting as a financial intermediary
committee wherein the members make initial contributions from their
savings for a few months and as soon as there is enough capital
available, these funds are then lent to the members or to other
residents of the village/locality for any purpose. In India, many SHGs
are linked to banks for the delivery of micro-credit.17
However this paper interprets the setup of a Self Help group in the
context of the home based workers coming together to produce and
sell the commodity thereby eliminating the middle chains in the
production process and fetching a relatively higher piece rate for
themselves which may further boost savings and empower these
women financially.
17
Fouillet C. and Augsburg B. 2007. "Spread of the Self-Help Groups Banking Linkage Programme in India", International Conference on Rural Finance Research: Moving Results, held by FAO and IFAD, Rome, March 19-21.
27
ATTEMPTS TO CREATE SHGs Delhi Commission for Women was constituted in 1994 by the Delhi
Commission for Women Act, 1994 and it started functioning in the year
1996 after which it was reconstituted in 2000. One of the major
initiatives taken by the Delhi Commission for Women in the year 2000-
2001 was to set up pilot projects in collaboration with partner NGOs for
empowering women economically and thus helping prevent crimes
against women. The Commission tied up with various NGOs working in
various parts of Delhi for formation of Self-Help Groups. In the very first
year of its initiative, the commission was able to achieve the following
results18:
TOTAL NUMBER OF GROUPS 716
TOTAL NUMBER OF MEMBERS(APPROX.)
16000
(IN RUPEES)
TOTAL SAVINGS 40,63,926.00 LOAN GIVEN 26,48,375.00
TOTAL RECOVERY 10,01,844.00
INTEREST RECIEVED 82,848.00
DEFAULT 11
BANK ACCOUNTS OPENED 282
As of March 23, 2014 12 NGOs were participating in this project and
244 self-help groups were formed with 4200 women as members. The 18
http://dcw.delhigovt.nic.in/SHGs%201.htm
28
commission plans to convert these SHGs into Multi-Purpose
Cooperative Societies for the economic independence of the women by
the end of this year.19
Thus one thing to be noted here is that the interpretation of SHGs here
is limited to being a financial intermediary only.
19
http://delhi.gov.in/wps/wcm/connect/lib_dcw/DCW/Home/Citizens+Charter.
29
THE RECEPTION OF SHGs BY THE SAMPLE A section of the questionnaire dealt with the level of awareness that
the home based workers possessed about the Self-help groups and the
benefits/costs they would incur if they were asked to establish one.
According to the results of the survey, only 25.7% of the working
women had the idea of what is meant by an SHG and none of the
women knew about the levels in the chain of production, the place
from where the raw material is procured, the estimated cost of the raw
material, the prospective market for the finished product etc. which is a
pre requisite to the establishment of a self-help entity.
Moreover almost 17.1% of the women could only estimate the price of
the product and none of them could even make a random estimate as
to how much additional amount they’d earn if they produce and sell
the product themselves.
Figure 5
26%
74%
AWARNESS ABOUT THE CONCEPT OF AN SHG
Aware
Not aware
30
About 48.5% women were completely unwilling to form an SHG
altogether whereas 37.1% of the women who’d been now introduced
to the idea of an SHG through this survey were willing to participate in
the making of such a set up.
Figure 6
When questioned about the unwillingness, the ladies cited quite a few
reasons, the basic one being lack of awareness which is well
represented by the given data. Also since the initial setting up of the
SHG required the contribution of a certain amount to begin with, it
triggered suspicion in the mind of the women being interviewed
regarding the rules governing the voluntary contribution from the
members and the capacity of contribution by each member. Also,
possible issues that could crop up was the dereliction of the duty as to
who would provide a place to keep the raw material, the final finished
17%
83%
AWARENESS ABOUT THE FINAL PRICE OF THE PRODUCT
Able to estimate
No idea
31
product and who’d share the burden in case the raw material or the
product gets spoiled.
A number of women also believed that they weren’t equipped with the
entrepreneurial knowledge required to set in motion the work of an
SHG. They felt that the regularity of work could be achieved by regular
clients who of course could be available only because of a network of
contacts which they did not possess.
The perception of the production activity as male oriented and certain
social stigmas also contributed to the unwillingness of the women to
form the SHGs. Some of them had never stepped out of the house for
work and were even hesitant of doing so even now while the others felt
that they’d not be able to gather family support for the same. Also
raising the children was a priority for women with younger kids.
However, during the survey it was found out that an attempt was made
to launch an SHG in 2012. During our survey, we came across Kavita, a
resident of Subhash Camp, whose mother-in-law had taken the
initiative of forming an SHG but it failed due to the anxiety around the
working of an SHG and subsequent back outs by women.
Thus following the interviews held with the women and the data so
gathered as discussed above, we come across these challenges that
exist for the home based workers in establishing an SHG:
1. Building Marketing and entrepreneurship skills
Lack of entrepreneurship skills was a popular opinion for the
unwillingness to form an SHG. Also, knowledge of marketing skills
required to pitch their products so as to compete with substitutes
is also necessary.
32
2. Technical support
The lack of awareness of the chains of production, potential
market, cost optimization, supply chain management,
warehousing and risk diversification is a huge setback in bringing
an SHG into existence. Thus there is a huge need of technical
support by the government and/or NGOs. Regular workshops
might bridge the knowledge gap.
3. Procurement Support by Government
None of the women had a clue about the areas from where the
raw material was procured or about the pricing. There is a need
for the government to step in to provide the raw materials of the
right quality, in the right quantity at the right price to the SHG in
the initial period after its establishment after which the
responsibility of the same can be transferred to the women when
they assimilate the required knowledge about the market and the
process of procurement. Moreover initial capital provided by the
government would be beneficial for setting up an SHG.
4. Technological guidance
There hasn’t been any change in the process of assembling the
raw materials into the final product made by the home based
workers for decades. The process can be optimized or changes
can be introduced in the processes that make them less
detrimental to their health.
Thus, if these challenges can be met, production SHGs can be
realized in Delhi.
33
CONCLUSIVE DISCUSSION As shown in the survey, there are ample instances where the
hypothesis that the women home based workers are exploited is true
can be safely concluded. The raw material is sourced to the home
based workers and they convert it into a finished product for which
they are remunerated on the piece rate basis. However, no such
contract is written but all the terms and conditions of the employment
are agreed upon verbally which means that these women don’t enjoy
the rights which formal sector workers such as paid leaves, maternal
leaves, health benefits etc.
The minimum wage level in Delhi for unskilled labour totals to Rs.311
per day20 and to earn this wage, a woman is required to stitch 2488
judas in 8 hours which is impractical. Attempts to increase the piece
rate are crushed with the argument of finding another work which
highlights the lack of job security in this sector. Thus even though 82%
women claim to have taken up this work to support family income, the
survey depicts that on a monthly basis, the addition is negligible.
Moreover the overtime payment facility is also not available to the
women working in this sector thus the opportunity cost of the overtime
payment and the time of the other family members used is high though
difficult to compute.
The prospect of Self-help groups has been thoroughly analysed and the
reasons for failure of attempts of the women to organise themselves
into a group without any external help (e.g. NGOs) have been noted.
20
http://www.delhi.gov.in/wps/wcm/connect/doit_labour/Labour/Home/Minimum+Wages/
34
The lack of entrepreneurship skills, technical support and technological
support play a dominant role.
The Government of India, by giving representation to the home based
workers in the informal economy has opened gates for social security
schemes to reach these workers however no follow up has been taken.
A challenge for the government in this regard “is to minimize the
vulnerability of workers in home work while supporting the elements
that ensure efficiency in production” according to Mehrotra and
Biggeri. Citing the example of Italy, they propose a cluster approach to
focus on local development21.
The initiatives taken by the Government of India are focused more
towards the social security aspect than on the overall development of
the home based workers. Suggestions of micro-financing have also
cropped up in recent years but the initial challenge is to estimate the
exact number of women employed on piece rate basis and then to
organise them into either Self-help groups or MSME (Micro, Small and
Medium Enterprise). If not inculcating the entrepreneurship abilities in
these women, protection from the exploitation by the contractors on
the basis of irregular wages, insufficient piece rates and no job security
is the need of the hour. Skill development workshops etc. could be
conducted to impart aptitudes or expertise in one area so that selling
their labour could fetch these women a higher wage to add to their
family income which is the main reason why 82% of the women as per
the sample chose to work as a part of the informal economy.
21
Mehrotra and Biggeri 2007: 120, 362
35
There is a scope for further research in this area which can shed
insights into the life of these women and the impact of policies
undertaken by the Government of India.
36
BIBLOGRAPHY Ajay Kumar Naik, (2009), Informal Sector and Informal Workers in
India.
Raja Junankar and Abu Shonchoy, (2012), The Informal Labour
Market in India: Transitory or Permanent Employment for
Migrants?
Indrani Mazumdar, (2005), Vulnerabilities of Women Homebased
Workers.
AIWDA, Report on Condition of Work of women Home based
Workers in Delhi.
Shalini Sinha, (2013), Supporting Women Homebased Workers:
The Approach of self Employed Women’s Association in India.
The Unorganised Sector in India.
Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.
ILO-Department of Statistics, (2012), Statistical Update on
Employment in the Informal Sector.
37
QUESTIONNAIRE
BASIC INFORMATION
NAME-
AGE-
SEX-
MARITAL STATUS-
OCCUPATION-
ADDRESS-
NO. OF FAMILY MEMBERS-
MAIN QUESTIONNAIRE
NATURE OF WORK
1. WHAT IS THE PRODUCT YOU ARE WORKING UPON?
2. DOES THE PRODUCTION OF THE COMMODITY REQUIRE QUALIFICATION OR THE KNOWLEDGE OF A CERTAIN SET OF SKILLS? YES N0
3. IF YES, WHAT ARE THE SKILLS REQUIRED?
4. WHO PROVIDES TRAINING TO ACQUIRE THESE SET OF SKILLS?
5. HOW MANY HOURS A DAY DO YOU DEVOTE TO PROVIDE YOUR LABOUR SERVICES?
6. IS YOUR WORK SEASONAL OR PERENNIAL? SEASONAL PERENNIAL
7. IF THE WORK IS REGULAR, DO YOU STILL GET WORK ALL DAYS A WEEK?
8. IS YOUR JOB SECURED?
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YES NO
INCOME DETAILS
1. ON WHAT PARAMETER ARE YOU PAID? PER UNIT PRODUCED PER HOUR PER DAY PER FORTNIGHT (15 DAYS) PER MONTH
2. DO YOU RECEIVE ANY PAYMENT IN KIND? YES NO
3. IF YES WHAT ALL IS INCLUDED IN THAT PAYMENT?
4. WHAT IS THE MOTIVATION TO PURSUE THE WORK THAT YOU ARE DOING? YOU ARE THE BREAD WINNER OF THE FAMILY AS A MEANS TO SUPPORT THE CHIEF EARNER JUST TO PASS TIME
5. ARE YOU THE CHIEF WAGE EARNER (CWE) OF YOUR FAMILY? YES NO
6. IF NOT, HOW MUCH DOES THE CWE EARN?
7. IS THE CWE’S WORK: SALARIED PAID ON PIECE RATE BASIS
8. IF YOU ARE THE CWE AND YOUR WORK IS SEASONAL, WHAT IS YOUR SOURCE OF
LIVELIHOOD IN THE OFFSEASON?
9. HAVE YOU EVER COMPARED YOUR WAGE WITH THOSE PROVIDING THE SAME LABOUR SERVICE IN THE FORMAL SECTOR?
YES NO
10. IF YES, DO THEY EARN MORE OR LESS?
11. BY WHAT PERCENTAGE THEIR WAGE DEVIATES FROM YOURS?
39
BETWEEN 0-5% BETWEEN 5-10% BETWEEN 10-20% MORE THAN 20%
12. HAS YOUR PIECE RATE: INCREASED DECREASED REMAIN THE SAME
13. IF NOT, DO YOU FEEL THAT YOUR PIECE RATE SHOULD INCREASE? YES NO
14. HAVE YOU ASKED FOR INCREMENTS IN YOUR PIECE RATE? YES NO
15. WHAT WAS THE RESPONSE YOU RECEIVED?
EXPENDITURE
1. PLEASE PROVIDE AN ESTIMATE OF YOUR DAILY EXPENDITURE.
2. WHAT IS YOUR PRODUCTION COST IN TERMS OF TIME SPACE AND EQUIPMENT?
3. DO YOU INCUR EXPENDITURE ON THE RAW MATERIAL ALSO? YES NO, IT IS PROVIDED BY THE DISTRIBUTOR
4. IF THE RAW MATERIAL IS PROVIDED BY THE DISTRIBUTOR, CAN YOU STILL ESTIMATE ITS COST?
5. DO YOU RECEIVE ANY CUTS IN YOUR INCOME IF THE RAW MATERIAL GETS SPOILED? IF YES, HOW MUCH?
6. DO YOU INCUR ANY EXPENDITURE ON THE TOOLS USED FOR PRODUCTION? YES NO, THEY ARE PROVIDED BY THE DISTRIBUTOR NO TOOLS ARE USED ALTOGETHER
7. HAS YOUR WORK EVER BEEN REJECTED? YES
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NO
8. IF YOUR WORK HAS BEE REJECTED, IN WHAT FORM ARE YOU ASKED TO REIMBURSE THE LOSS?
PRICE AND DISTRIBUTION
1. DO YOU KNOW THE FINAL PRICE OF YOUR PRODUCT? YES NO
2. IF YES, WHAT IS THE PRICE?
3. DO YOU KNOW WHERE THE PRODUCT IS SOLD? (IF YES, DO MENTION THE AREA)
4. DO YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION ABOUT THE COMPLETE CHAIN OF PRODUCTION i.e. FROM WHERE IS THE RAW MATERIAL PROCURED, WHAT IS THE CHAIN OF DISTRIBUTION, WHERE IS IT SOLD ETC.? IF YES, PLEASE PROVIDE DETAILS.
LABOUR FEEDBACKS
1. WHY DID YOU START WORKING IN THIS INDUSTRY?
2. FOR HOW LONG ARE YOU WORKING IN THE INDUSTRY?
3. HAVE YOU OBSERVED ANY CHANGES IN THE WORKING PATTERN OF THE INDUSTRY? IF YES, KINDLY LIST A FEW.
4. WHAT IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY COST OF WORKING IN THE INDUSTRY?
5. HAVE YOU EVER STEPPED OUT FOR WORK? YES NO
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6. DO YOU MIND STEPPING OUT OF THE HOUSE TO EARN BETTER WAGES? IF YES, PLEASE MENTION THE INHIBITIONS YOU CARRY.
7. DO YOU WANT YOUR NEXT GENERATION TO WORK IN THE SAME INDUSTRY?
8. DO YOU THINK GENDER PLAYS A ROLE IN DECIDING THE PAYMENT STRUCTURE IN THIS
INDUSTRY?
9. DOES SOMEONE PROVIDE YOU SOME ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE IN YOUR WORK?
10. WHAT KIND OF WORK EXPERIENCE DO YOU HAVE?
11. REASONS FOR LEAVING THE PREVIOUS WORK?
AWARENESS
1. CAN YOU ESTIMATE THE ADDITIONAL AMOUNT YOU CAN EARN IF YOU PRODUCE AND SELL THE PRODUCT ON YOUR OWN?
2. DO YOU KNOW THE MINIMUM WAGE LEVEL THAT PREVAILS IN YOUR AREA?
3. DO YOU HAVE ANY KNOWLEDGE ABOUT A SELF HELP GROUP? DON’T KNOW ABOUT THEM KNOW BUT ARE A LITTLE SCEPTIC KNOW AND WILLING TO FORM UNWILLING TO FORM AN SHG ALTOGETHER 4. IF YOU KNOW AND ARE WILLING TO FORM WHY HAVEN’T YOU DONE IT YET?
5. IF YOU ARE UNWILLING TO FORM AN SHG, PLEASE LIST THE POSSIBLE REASONS FOR YOUR DECISION.
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FOOTNOTES:
WHAT CONCERNS DO YOU HAVE FOR YOUR CHILDREN?
