The three months after Lehman Brothers’ collapse in September 2008, at least five lakh Indian workers have lost their jobs, a recent Labour Ministry survey found. Workers in the gems and jeweler sector were the worst affected.
About 93 per cent of India’s workforce is in the unorganized sector with no social security cover. The Labour Ministry assessed the ground realities in Surat, India’s largest cluster of gems and jewellery units, in consultation with the city’s district collector, police commissioner and the Gujarat government and its findings were communal with the PMO late last month. The Sunday Express has a copy of the report, which reveals the ripple effects of job losses on the economy.
• Most gem and jewelry units haven’t opened or functioned ‘normally’ since Diwali—the 2,500-3,000 large diamond units employed about 4 lake workers, half of whom have lost their jobs.
• There were 10,000 unregistered units employing 5 to 7 workers each, not enclosed by the Factories Act or any social security scheme. Their annual Diwali break was at least 45 days in 2008, as opposed to the common 25 days. The labour commissioner and state officials had to interfere to restart 140 units.
• Nine diamond workers have committed suicide, according to the police commissioner. The Rural Labour Commissioner’s social security cover scheme does not cover suicides.
• About 75 per cent of workers in the city are migrants under 35. Most have left the city after losing their jobs.
• As many as 1,848 students have dropped out of school; fresh admissions into schools have halved from 2900 to 1400. The district administration has asked schools not to insist on fees for the children of diamond workers, who work on piece rate basis and have no safety net.
• The UPA has recently decided to give an job loss allowance to laid-off workers covered under the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) for one year. But in Surat, 99 per cent of the estimated one million workers in the diamond industry are not covered by the Employees’ Provident Fund or ESIC. The UPA has future to expand the EPF net to firms employing even ten workers—from 20—but several ministries have opposite the plan.
• When BJP MP Parshottam Rupala sought an ad-hoc interim relief package from the Centre, the Commerce Ministry said measures to help exporters have been taken, but job loss is not its worry.
About 93 per cent of India’s workforce is in the unorganized sector with no social security cover. The Labour Ministry assessed the ground realities in Surat, India’s largest cluster of gems and jewellery units, in consultation with the city’s district collector, police commissioner and the Gujarat government and its findings were communal with the PMO late last month. The Sunday Express has a copy of the report, which reveals the ripple effects of job losses on the economy.
• Most gem and jewelry units haven’t opened or functioned ‘normally’ since Diwali—the 2,500-3,000 large diamond units employed about 4 lake workers, half of whom have lost their jobs.
• There were 10,000 unregistered units employing 5 to 7 workers each, not enclosed by the Factories Act or any social security scheme. Their annual Diwali break was at least 45 days in 2008, as opposed to the common 25 days. The labour commissioner and state officials had to interfere to restart 140 units.
• Nine diamond workers have committed suicide, according to the police commissioner. The Rural Labour Commissioner’s social security cover scheme does not cover suicides.
• About 75 per cent of workers in the city are migrants under 35. Most have left the city after losing their jobs.
• As many as 1,848 students have dropped out of school; fresh admissions into schools have halved from 2900 to 1400. The district administration has asked schools not to insist on fees for the children of diamond workers, who work on piece rate basis and have no safety net.
• The UPA has recently decided to give an job loss allowance to laid-off workers covered under the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) for one year. But in Surat, 99 per cent of the estimated one million workers in the diamond industry are not covered by the Employees’ Provident Fund or ESIC. The UPA has future to expand the EPF net to firms employing even ten workers—from 20—but several ministries have opposite the plan.
• When BJP MP Parshottam Rupala sought an ad-hoc interim relief package from the Centre, the Commerce Ministry said measures to help exporters have been taken, but job loss is not its worry.
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