The aspects of available labour rights to the workers are the main focus point. Social security is a fundamental right of labour, which is guaranteed by law to all human beings, who live on their own labour and who find themselves unable to work temporarily or permanently in some difficult circumstances beyond their control. In terms of social security, the first development was seen at the time of French Revolution when a Declaration of the Rights of man was proclaimed. It served as a preamble to the French Constitution of 1793, which stated that inter-alia public assistance is a sacred duty. According to Article 22 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, every member of society has a right to social security. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) declaration on fundamental principles and rights at work is a major step in this direction. Any kind of development must bring about an improvement in the living conditions of people. It should, therefore, ensure the provision of basic human needs at all. The international covenant on economic, social and cultural Rights of the United Nations is another international instrument bestowing workers with economic, social and cultural rights. So that they, enjoying these rights of self –determination, can freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.
Now, we can discuss on the aspects relating to labour standards. The International Labour Organization (ILO) has played a significant role in promoting International Labour Standards. (ILS’s).The ILO has formulated international labour standards at various conferences. In 1944, the conference of Philadelphia adopted the Declaration of Philadelphia, which restated the fundamental aims and purposes of the ILO. Several acronyms have been used to describe labour standards such as fair labour standards, minimum labour standards, basic or core labour standards etc.. Since its inception the International Labour Organization has adopted 181 legally binding conventions and 188 recommendations aimed at improving labour standards across the globe. There are eight core labour standards. There are four categories such as: i) Right to freedom of Association and collective bargaining; ii) Elimination of forced labour; iii) Elimination of child labour; iv) Elimination of discrimination in matter of occupation and wages.
These are the instruments in the hands of ILO to improve the living and working conditions of working class in the third world. The ILO provides for a tripartite arrangements between employers, workers and state to legislate and execute the international labour standards in the member countries. The international labour standards protect workers in various sectors. They include freedom of association, equal pay for equal work, safe working conditions, abolition of forced labour and sex based discrimination, employment protection, provision of social security, protection of migrant workers, elimination of sexual harassment of women workers and others. These international labour standards were formulated and few of them were amended by the International Labour Organization between 1919 and 1978 with a view to protect the material and moral interests of the workers.
The Indian Constitution provides for citizenship rights in part II. Citizenship rights are regarded as fundamental,
because they are most essential for the attainment by the individual of his full intellectual moral and spiritual status. The guarantee of the minimum rights at the workplace will enable people to claim and realize a fair share of the wealth. The guarantee of these rights will ensure a process of translating economic growth into social equality. The development thus becomes synonymous with the agenda of integrated development.
According to the Directive Principles of State Policy of the Indian Constitution, The state is required to secure for the citizens, both men and women, the right to an adequate means of livelihood, equal pay for equal work, protection against abuse and exploitation of worker’s, economic necessity, protection of their health and strength, to secure for children’s opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and protect children and a youth against exploitation and moral and material abandonment.
When it comes to the state, it is also required to secure equal justice and free legal aid, to make effective provisions for right to work, to education and to public assistance in cases of undeserved want, to ensure just and human conditions of work and maternity benefit, to secure work, a living wage and a decent standard of life to participation of workers in the management of industries. Citizenship rights are essential for the development of the citizens of the country. Incomplete citizenship or denial of civil rights (freedom of expression, rule of law, right to justice) political rights (right and means to participation in the exercise of political power) and socio-economic rights (right to property, employment, and education) are key dimensions of a poor life. Hence, we need to recognize that the right to move freely from one part of the territory of a country to another or one part of the globe to another is a basic right which should not be denied to workers.
Labours are depicted as a backbone of any industry and any other sector across the world. However, in Indian context, labour Migration is a very common phenomenon. After the independence, industrialization took place in some parts of the country but it was not significant in volume. The farmers, young and child work forces were engaged in family farming activities. Alongwith the passage of time, population explosion took place and accordingly the land productivities could not suffice the needs of the farmer’s and other worker’s family. The needs of cash and capital were increasing in the family and at the same time industrialization in many parts of the country was also taking shape. It was that time when migration of labours started from the villages to the industrialized places and the cities
where the labours could search for the works. Todays, migration of work force from the villages to the cities and from the country to abroad is a very common phenomenon. The centralization of industrialization in some parts and non-industrialization in agricultural states are also the important factor for the migration from the villages to these places. The governments come and go but they do not make policy and formulate strategy to establish a decentralized and sustainable development system across the country so that large amount of migration happening from parts of the country if cannot be stopped then can be minimized systematically.
The most important question is what rights are available to the migrant labours under various laws of the country. In view of the Constitution of India, all labour rights are guaranteed to the labourers that includes migrant workers. Within the Indian Constitution, The Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy clearly mention so in the following three articles:
Now, when it comes to the legislation mainly for migrant workers, the following acts ensure some standards to migrant workers.
The big question is why labourers migrate from their beloved villages or places of birth to any other place which are unknown and not suitable to their natural life & living. As an estimate nearly 140 million of rural workers migrate seasonally to cities, industries and farms in the search of works & livelihood. These workers move frequently back and forth undertaking a vast array of casual work in the construction, manufacturing, services and farm sectors. They form part of Country’s unorganized, informal workforce which is estimated 350 million around and which remains excluded from the services and rights as workers and citizens. Movement of workers happens from impoverished rural regions to the more affluent urban and industrial pockets. Poor wages, erratic employment, hazardous work conditions and lack of essential services define the experience of migrant workers. Access to public entitlements is largely linked to proof of residence which migrants are unlike to possess – this results in their exclusion from subsidized food-grains, housing, health care and other benefits available to local citizens. Migrants survive on the margins, i.e. on construction sites, brick kilns or polluted manufacturing zones on the peripheries of cities. When they live within the city, it is often in informal settlements that are deemed illegal by civic authorities, and hence placed outside planning and provisioning.
There is an urgent need for solutions to transform migration into a more dignified and rewarding opportunity. Without this, making growth inclusive & sustainable or aspiring to become a developed nation will remain a very distant dream. Let us discuss some of the important issues which lead to the pathetic conditions of migrant labourers:
Migrant labourers work in various occupations. The Government is implementing several social security and welfare schemes for workers including skilled and unskilled migrant workers
These schemes include;
The Government has enacted four Labour Codes, namely, Code on Wages, 2019, the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions, 2020 and Social Security, Code 2020, inter-alia, to improve welfare, safety and health of the workers. Labour Codes have following provisions in this regard:
Migration of labourers is a truth that we have to accept first with a motive to address its problems and provide a viable solution to minimize it. When we think for minimization of the issue of migration, we should adopt a practical and pragmatic approach for the redressal. A government alone cannot redress and any solution based on the old school of thoughts also cannot present a practical solution. In the fast moving world, the challenges can be addressed by the use of modern mechanism and with the partnership of all the citizens. Let us see some modern and up –to-date mechanism:
The National Commission on Rural Labour in India (NCRL, 1991) gives an estimate that more than 10 million circular migrants are there in the rural areas alone. These include an estimated 4.5 million interstate migrants and 6 million intra-state migrants. The Commission pointed out that there are large number of seasonally migrant workers in the agriculture and plantations, brick kilns, quarries, construction sites and fish processing etc. The problem of seasonal migrant workers in the sugar industry and other agro-based industries is also not a new phenomenon in India.
It has been observed that migrant workers are not aware of the relevant laws and their rights or labour rights provided to them under these laws, like right to equality, right to work, right to secure work, a living wage and a decent standard of life, security scheme, health rights, right to form association, right to freedom, cultural and educational rights, etc. There are various workers in the unorganized sectors such as bamboo cutters, salseed collectors in Orissa state, the fisherman and women , the leather flayers and tunners, the salt workers, the beedi workers, the hand loom weavers, the hand crafts men and women, the workers in brick kilns and stone quarries etc. All these workers are victims of the same situation. The pathetic situation of these workers are system generated, which breeds inter-mediaries or middlemen who reap a lot of unmerited benefits at cost of the labour of these people. Many unscrupulous agents coerce them and don’t pay minimum wages as per law. They are victims of both unfair labour practices as well as a system that is developed in the course of time due to poor policies and no check & balance system within the government. There is an urgent need for solutions to transform migration into a more dignified and rewarding opportunity. Without this, making growth inclusive & sustainable or aspiring to become a developed nation will remain a very distant dream.
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