Of Rights as Workers: Women in Public Services

Indrani Mazumdar,Centre for Women’s Development Studies

(CWDS) New Delhi

• Indian women’s experience of public sector employment qualitatively and quantitatively different from China in terms of size, share of employment, and social role

• Historically low share of women in India’s public sector, and even with some increases, still short of 18% in 2012

• Relatively greater domination of Community and Social Services (CSS) in the profile of women public sector employment. In 2011, 75% of women concentrated in CSS. Among male public sector employees/workers, CSS – 48%

• Relatively greater presence of women in the southern region. Southern India accounts for 38% of women’s public sector employment in India in comparison to 22% among male employees.

• This matches broad pattern of higher rates of urban female work participation in the south.

Industry Distribution of Public Sector

Women’s Employment

(000s)2001

% Share of Women

2001

Distribution of Public Sector Women’s

Employment

% Share of Women

2011

Agriculture 48.17(2%) 10

59.63(2%)

13

Mining 55.48(2%) 7

82.78(3%)

8

Manufacturing 92.18(3%) 6

77.37(2%)

8

Electricity/gas/water 44.88(2%) 5

56.44(2%)

7

Construction 63.89(2%) 6

65.35(2%)

8

Trade & Hotels 17.34(1%) 10

13.89(0.4%)

8

Transport/Communications 173.41(6%) 6

189.98(6%)

8

Finance/Insurance/Real Estate & Business Services

184.30(6%) 15

221.77(7%)

16

Community, Social & Personal Services

2170.40(76%) 22

2364.08(75%)

26

all 2850.04(100) 15

3131.29(100)

18

Region/Zone Distribution of Public Sector

Women’s Employment

(000s)2001

% Share of Women

2001

Distribution of Public Sector

Women’s Employment

(000s) 2011

% Share of Women

2011

North 462.62 (16%) 15 521.59 (16%) 18

Central 354.64 (12%) 11 396.11 (12%) 13

North Eastern 151.83 (5%) 17 166.74 (5%) 19

Eastern 296.83 (10%) 8 326.49 (10%) 10

Western 503.51 (18%) 16 612.35 (19%) 20

Southern 1076.36 (38%) 23 1139.84 (38%) 26

All 2850.04 (100) 15 3170.64 (100) 18

Uncounted Women Workers in public service delivery Denied Worker Status and Rights

• A notable tendency in administration of public services in India has been the increasing recruitment of millions of women as so-called volunteers or activists

• Denied any legal status/recognition as ‘workers’,they are consequently deprived not only of employment rights as public sector/government employees, but also of any legal entitlement as workers to statutory minimum wages and social security benefits

• Paid well below subsistence wages, euphemistically called ‘honoraria’ or ‘incentives’ (honoraria referring to monthly salaries, and incentives to piece rates)

• 3 principal programmes or schemes through which the Central Government of India has evolved a massive system of underpaying and using women as the cheapest workforce for the delivery of essential public services

• An army of more than 5 million women workers in just these three schemes actually exceeds the total number women in official public sector employment by well over a million

• ICDS (Integrated Child Development Scheme) employs more than 2.4 million Anganwadi Workers and Helpers – all women

• National Health Mission employs 894,525 ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers – all women

• Mid-day Meal Scheme for Primary and Upper Primary Schools employs 2.57 cooks-cum-helpers of which 85% (2.2 million) are women

• These Scheme Workers have emerged as a vanguard in movements of women workers commanding a new respect and support from even male trade unionists

• Their struggles have been many, but an anti-labour environment has influenced particularly the higher judiciary and advances made for legal recognition as workers have been reversed

• Experience of trade unions seems to indicate that in this all female workforce/cadres, the scope for growth and development of women leaders has been greater

• Paradoxically, the organisation of these all female cadres of workers has been by the mixed gender based trade union organisations

• The one central trade union that is all female and focuses on informal workers has not played a role in organising scheme workers