What is unorganized labour?
Labour is divided into two parts: Organised and Un-organised labour. In India, 93% of the labour sector lies in the unorganized sector with most of the farm sector falling under the informal category, while only one-fifth of the non-farm workers are found in the organized sector. Subsistence farmers, dairy workers and those working in the traditional manufacturing such as handlooms are grouped under unorganized sector.
The term Unorganised labour has been defined as those workers who have not been able to organize themselves to pursuit their common interests due to constraints like casual nature of employment, ignorance and illiteracy.
Trends in Employment in Organised and Unorganised Sectors in India
The table below explains the extent of workforce in the organised and unorganised sectors, and their changes over time. The share of organised workforce was about 8.per cent by 1983, which declined to 7.54 per cent by 2004-2005. The corresponding share of unorganized workforce was about 92.07 per cent by 1983, which increased to 92.46 per cent by 2004-2005
Year
Organised Sector
Unorganised Sector
Total Workforce
(In million)
1983
24.01 (7.93%)
278.74 (92.07%)
302.75
1987-1988
25.71 (7.93%)
298.58 (92.07%)
324.27
1993-1994
27.27 (7.31%)
347.08 (92.69%)
374.45
1999-2000
28.11 (7.08%)
368.89 (92.91%)
397.00
2005-2006
26.46 (7.54%)
358.45 (92.46%)
384.91
Characteristics of unorganised labour
The unorganised sector suffers from cycles of seasonality of employment and majority of the workers do not have a stable and durable avenue of employment. Even those who are visibly employed are not substantially employed, therefore showing the existence of disguised employment
The workplace is fragmented and scattered. The workers do the same kind of jobs even in different habitations and maybe not work or live together in compact areas.
There is no employer – employee relationship between the small and marginal