But these mandates are gleefully abandoned. Those institutions have assumed virtual autonomy. It is vitally important to strengthen UN machinery as a countercheck to the unaccountable Bretton Woods institutions. The Indian deliberations have acknowledged the urgency in evolving effective arrangements within the country, to safeguard labour rights, despite the fact that India does not have a dearth of labour legislation. Despite voluminous legislations on paper, labour rights all consistently violated in all sectors.
Employers deny with impunity the right to association and collective bargaining.
Minimum wage laws are violated and child labour employed in large numbers in the production of export oriented goods and in agrarian sectors. Violations of rights of workers have been further aggravated by governments carrying out Structural Adjustment Programmes and policies aimed at integrating the Indian economy into the global market. Consequently, the profile of workers is undergoing fundamental changes. The number of contract, home based and unorganised workers are increasing at all levels of production processes. As a result, it becomes easier to violate labour laws or to make the laws ineffective.