Managing informal sector a challenge

KATHMANDU, JAN 12: 

The country has been facing a challenge in managing workers of the informal sector as the economy is rapidly moving towards an informal economy. People are shifting from formal sector work to home-based work and this is creating new challenges, rights activists said in an interaction today. 

Home-based workers are those who work at home for a company or factory. They get remuneration for the work they do, according to International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 177. There are about 2.2 million people who are involved with home-based work without any identity and social security, said researcher at CLASS-Nepal — an NGO working in the labour sector — Vishal Bhardwaj. 

“They do not get the minimum wage and other benefits as they are not united,” he said, adding that protecting their interest is a great challenge today. 

According to him, among the 2.2 million workers in informal sector, 600,000 are united in small groups and are located in the suburbs of Kathmandu, Pokhara, Hetauda, Biratnagar, Butwal and other towns. They work for big industries through intermediaries and are exploited regarding wages, he added. 

Activists urged the government to ratify ILO Convention 177 to safeguard the rights of home-based workers. “Ratification of ILO Convention 177 is a must to protect the rapidly growing workforce in the informal economy,” said vice president of the organisation Yogendra Kunwar. “We plan to influence the government through policy advocacy on the issue,” he said.

According to the organisation, it is advocating to include informal sector workers, mainly home-based workers, in the forthcoming Labour Force Survey. “We are coordinating with Central Bureau of Statistics to include the issue in next survey to be held in 2014,” said an official at CLASS-Nepal.

The organisation has established member-based organisations — cooperatives and loose groups — to unite home-based workers. “We are making them aware and uniting them for their benefit and they have been joining our movement to build pressure on the government to ratify ILO Convention 177,” said an officer at the organisation Goma Pandey. Only the ratification of the convention can build a legal base for home-based workers, he added.

Source: THT