Date:14/09/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/09/14/stories/2007091457660400.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Pass unorganised sector Bill: Ruth Manorama

Staff Reporter

Bangalore: Ruth Manorama, president of the National Alliance of Women (NAWO), has called for the early passage of the Unorganised Sector Workers Social Security Bill to protect workers of a sector that accounts for 93 per cent of the total workforce in the country, and of which more than half are women.

“None of the labour laws are able to benefit the sector, and workers are denied social security and health coverage,” Ms. Manorama said, addressing a two-day meeting on ‘Women, work and social security of unorganised sector workers’ organised by NAWO on Thursday.

She said the passage of the Bill took on a particular urgency in the wake of economic reforms and globalisation and with it “the increasing vulnerability and exploitation of unorganised workers.”

Women in the sector are especially vulnerable with the realities of sexual harassment and unequal wages, Ms. Manorama said.

“Is the unprecedented growth in GDP and the slogan of inclusive growth translating into ground realities?” asked Pam Rajput, executive director, Women’s Resource and Advocacy Centre, Chandigarh, and vice-president, NAWO.

“The claims that globalisation has brought with it the feminisation of work have been proved false by economists. What globalisation has compounded is the feminisation of working poverty,” she said.