FACE OF LABOUR IN PANDEMIC
Tags: Migration, Pandemic, Labour

BY CAROLINE WILSON

The world has been on testing times (quite literally), with the corona virus pandemic creating intense pressure on the economy impacting both the formal and the informal sectors immensely. With several regular nine to five jobs being lost in multiple sectors a lot of workers are now resorting to flexible freelance work offering a wide range of services, from data entries from home to delivering meals and other essentials.

Several companies and industries received a severe blow during the economic slowdown that began slowly but surely way before the Covid 19 came into picture and no doubt the profit margins further declined considerably during the global pandemic. With several restrictions and laws coming into place like social distancing, the Disaster Management act and The Essential Commodities act along with several state government rules along with the imposition of IPC Section 144 in several regions and the ridiculous initiative of dilution of labour laws in certain parts.

The restrictions on inter-state movement of labour and materials along with the announcement of a sudden lockdown without adequate preparation, made thousands of migrants to leave the cities the very next day out of sheer panic leading to disastrous consequences(the death of several migrants on railways tracks, roads, some without adequate food and water) . The large scale migration of labourers from the core centres of production along with a global downfall of demand, negatively impacted sectors that employ huge numbers of migrants namely the garment, construction sector and other production houses like brick making, cement industries etc.

Out of the different sectors, one area that seems to have survived and continues to sustain to an extent is the gig economy. For the majority of the lot, the gig economy which largely operates on the ecosystem of freelancers seems to be at a better receiving end. There are several reasons as to why the gig economy seems to be effectively working as compared to the other areas like garment or construction within the informal economy and one of the primary reasons being that of cost effectiveness. The gig economy largely plays on advanced digital technology and operationality of logistics. On the one hand the gig economy employs individuals with marked deadlines and performance based wages. On the other hand the individual benefits through the scope of choosing his/her interest area with flexible working hours and inculcating skill sets for a neo liberalized world.

However everything is not all black and white either as a large number of employees even in the gig economy seems to be facing the brunt of the situation with several being paid lesser wages, not having adequate safety measures and some even testing positive and getting hospitalized leading to a higher out of pocket expenditure on health. The situation is worse in countries that don’t have effective government health initiatives.

With schemes like Aatma Nirbhar Bharat (the actual expenditure is just 1% of GDP) coming into place and government making announcements of large packages for the vulnerable sections, some respite seems to have come into place but that is not enough to lift the poor, especially within the informal sector. The existence of an uncertain future looms over the Indian economy further leading to lower GVA across different sectors of agriculture, industries and service. With incomes falling, people will cut down expenditure and so will government and industries leading to a further drag on the ongoing economic downfall with sluggish growth leading to a severe hit on the supplies and the labour that is involved in the production and manufacturing process.

The need of the hour is to acknowledge the interconnected nature of the global economy and not treat the formal and the informal economy as separate as any scheme or policy on labour affects both the sectors though not on equal footing. Secondly, the health and safety of the workers should not be compromised in the process of regaining profits as inadequate health measures and equipments will only further deplete the process of getting the economy back on track. Furthermore, the pandemic has surely put light on the living conditions of the majority of Indians which needs to be acknowledged and the lives of thousands should not be put on stake only for the gain of a handful of ruling ideologies and vote bank politics.