Project IntroductionThe National Commission for Women (NCW) has been providing financial support for conducting Seminars with the objective of getting an insight into the current situation of Migrant Women Workers, their issues and challenges, to find gaps in the labour laws and explore its remedial measures, while analysing grassroots impact of law and policy measures.

In India, people move from the states with less per capita income to states with higher per capita income, higher wages and better opportunities. The states of UP and Bihar are prevalently known for rural emigration for decades and newer regions of Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and North Eastern sisters have become suppliers of manual labour throughout India. Among the largest establishments of migrant workers is the construction (40 million), household work (20 million), textile business (11 million), transportation, brick work (10 million), mines & quarries and agricultural labour.

Women migrate to contribute to the family income and other support. Many of the get employed as construction workers. They often lack rights which render them insecure, especially in the event of crisis. They get less salary, have long working hour and are physically strained. They work in unsafe condition, experience sexual harassment, and lack access to resources, and poor health conditions. Reasons of sexual harassment are informal practices of recruitment, lack of documentation of hiring and firing, and the constant fear of jobless.

Women are more disadvantaged than men in terms of access to health care; however, they have perceived conditions at work site to be better than it was in their place of origin, especially in North India. Women are less likely to receive modern medical care and they generally rely on traditional and cheap methods of health care in construction sites. They also lack cheap and safe transportation; harassment by employers.

Almost all women engaged for labour in construction work come from lower socio- economic background with no or poor literacy and skills. These workers are categorized as unorganized workers. National Commission for Enterprise in the Unorganized sector (NCEUS) recorded 86% workers in unorganized sector. Among the women, 94% are employed in agriculture and allied activities, construction, transport, mining, manufacturing, small and medium enterprises mostly as contractual labour. Some studies on construction workers have mostly discussed their status as worker.

Women migrant workers face a higher risk of losing their livelihoods, having their labour and human rights violated and contracting coronavirus.

They are likely to work in the informal economy, especially domestic service and the care sector, with insecure contracts and no paid leave or ability to work from home. They are also more likely to be engaged in short-term, part-time work. Their jobs are generally excluded from contributory social insurance schemes, which means limited or no social safety nets to compensate for lost income and limited or no access to health care and maternity protection.

For many of the million women migrant domestic workers, the onset of the pandemic has led to dismissal from jobs, with their health and safety ignored and even violated. For live-in migrant domestic workers, losing their jobs also means losing their place to live. The onset of travel restrictions has increased financial challenges and uncertainty, with many stranded far from home.

The webinar will be providing a forum for sharing knowledge, information and experience of the resource persons and the participants. The webinar will also highlight the similar projects on the topic and existing policies and programmes in relation to women empowerment. This will be a good portal of sharing knowledge and also will lead to better execution of schemes and policies.

Details of Partner Organization – National Commission for Women
http://ncw.nic.in/


To strive towards enabling women to achieve equality and equal participation in all spheres of life by securing her due rights and entitlements through suitable policy formulation, legislative measures, effective enforcement of laws, implementation of schemes/policies and devising strategies for solution of specific problems/situations arising out of discrimination and atrocities against women.

The Indian Woman, secure in her home and outside, fully empowered to access all her rights and entitlements, with opportunity to contribute equally in all walks of life.

Brochure of the webinar:

Glimpse of the webinar: