Abstract: –
The unorganized sector is a distinct market segment separate from the organized sector, characterized by easy entry, reliance on local resources, family-run businesses, small-scale production, labor-intensive operations, technology adapted from indigenous sources, skills acquired outside formal education, and informal adherence to regulations. The significance of the unorganized sector is particularly evident in its role in offering employment opportunities to skilled, unskilled, and lower-income workers, including both migrants and non-migrants, in densely populated developing countries.In India’s unorganized sector, workers are engaged in a range of informal occupations, often lacking access to social security benefits and formal employment agreements. While workers in the unorganized sector play a crucial role in the country’s economic progress, they face significant challenges due to the lack of protective laws and regulations. Despite their vital contributions, these workers encounter various issues such as inadequate wages, absence of social security coverage, occupational hazards, informal employment practices, child labor, forced labor, gender disparities, lack of skills training and education, migration, poverty, income inequality, and limited awareness of labor rights. These workers are available whenever needed, working long hours every day, often without receiving minimum wages, under unsanitary and hazardous conditions, living close to their workplaces even in dumpsites, primarily as migrant workers separated from their families, lacking identity and citizenship rights, and risking their dignity and well-being from childhood to old age, disability, or illness. Presently, over 450 million workers are employed in various sectors in India, including industries, households, agriculture, transportation, and other areas crucial for societal functioning. This article critically examines the existing legal framework, including the key judicial pronouncements toward recognizing health as an integral part of the right to life. The paper explores international human rights obligations under ILO conventions and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, assessing India’s compliance. It concludes by proposing policy reforms aimed at strengthening occupational health systems, enhancing social security coverage, and ensuring effective grievance redressal mechanisms.
Key Words: Unorganised Workers, Right to Health, Social Security, Constitutional Rights, Human Rights.
Introduction: –
The majority (90%) of Indian workers are employed in the unorganized sector, which includes a broad range of jobs like construction workers, street sellers, domestic servants, and agricultural laborers. Unorganized workers frequently continue to be denied access to official labor protections, social security programs, and healthcare services, despite their substantial economic contribution to the country. Informality, low and inconsistent pay, job insecurity, lack of access to healthcare, and inadequate workplace safety regulations are common characteristics of their working conditions. Both international law and the Indian constitutional framework recognize the right to health and the wider range of human rights for workers. The Indian Constitution requires the State to protect the health, welfare, and dignity of all citizens, especially the weaker and more marginalized ones, through both the Fundamental Rights and the DPSP. In response, a number of national laws and policies have been passed over time to give unorganized workers more protection. There is still significant concern about how well labor rules meet the demands and safeguard the rights of unorganized workers. Their rights to social security, health care, and decent working conditions have been protected by a number of laws and programs, but their actual effects have been minimal.