Discrimination against Women Labourers in the Unorganised Sector: A Study in Dindigul District of Tamil Nadu

Women constitute a significant part of the workforce of India but they lag behind men in terms of level and quality of employment. Over 96 per cent of women work in the informal/unorganized sector. The informal sector constitutes 93 per cent of the workforce of the population of India. These workers contribute 62 per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP), and 50 per cent to the national income. This sector includes workers employed in a wide range of economic activities, from street vendors and casual workers to permanent workers and temporary workers in factories. However, unlike workers in the formal sectors, they do not have access to regular incomes or welfare benefits, making them extremely vulnerable to change and insecurity. The informal sector includes jobs such as domestic servant, small trader, artisan, or field labourer on a family farm. Most of these jobs are unskilled and low paying and do not provide benefits to the worker. The women workers in the informal sector constituted about 91.38 per cent. Similarly, among rural workers, about 92 per cent were in the informal sector. The National commission for women estimates that 94 Per cent of the total female workforce is to be found in the unorganized sector. The growth of small and cottage industries has depended heavily on female labour. This paper attempts to examine some of the pressing issues faced by spinning mills women workers such as discrimination in service conditions, wages, position, the security provided to women workers, violence against them, and their access to health and other basic facilities at the work place.