Hope you are having a great Sunday. This week, we talk about the petition by gig workers in India, the complex situation in Haiti and the variable of income while referring to livelihoods.
Gig workers in India
Recently, the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT) filed a Public Interest Litigation for the protection of the delivery and app-based transport workers. IFAT is a registered union for gig workers. The PIL argues over “denial of social security to gig workers/platform workers has led to their exploitation which is causing a violation of Article 21- Right to Life Article 14- Equality before law and Article 23- Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour of the Constitution.
Context- - As per a report by the Economic Survey of India 2019, the unorganized sector accounts for 93% of the workforce of India. The ‘Gig Economy’ which also falls under the unorganized sector accounts for 25% of the total workers in the services sector in urban areas estimated at around 35 million. The sector plays a huge role in the Indian economy in maintaining the services yet there are no solid provisions to protect the workers under the sector.
Goal of the PIL- The PIL seeks to hold app-based companies like Zomato, Swiggy, Ola, Uber accountable for the lives of the drivers/delivery partners whose incomes are dwindling in the lieu of pandemic and increased fuel prices. Often these platforms enter contracts partnerships and the workers as calling them “aggregators”, by labelling them as gig workers can deny any fixed salary and social security to its workers leading to labour exploitation. Often workers are made to run after targets, and they must work overtime to earn a sustainable income. Companies have argued by saying that they do not define the work timings and workload for gig workers. But on average the workers are forced to work 16-20 hours. Ola and Uber do not assist the harassment and violence of the drivers on the road.
The human cost of this system- The complete absence of social security and protection reflects the inability of the workers to further invest time on themselves, suffering from lack of fewer than 6 hours of sleep as well as back issues for drivers. With time, the Indian judiciary must hold app-based corporations accountable for their action. Judiciary in India has always played an important role in constituting the idea of defining social and economic justice for everyone.
The overwhelming migrant crisis of Haiti
Haiti has been dealing with the postpartum downfall of political turmoil and the earthquake that shook the country, in August. The citizens have sought refuge in neighbouring countries but have been left heartbroken to see the lack of support from the other side.
Amid deteriorating conditions in migrant camps on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, U.S. authorities on Wednesday have been dealing with thousands of the mostly Haitian migrants that have gathered, releasing some in south Texas while deporting others on flights.
However, the refugees living in the encampment under the international bridge in Del Rio, which reached as many as 14,000 people at its peak, has become a major strain on the resources of the local volunteer-run welcome centre. Authorities have moved thousands away for immigration processing and deported more than 500 Haitians since last week. It has been reported that those who haven't been expelled as yet due to the public health order known as Title 42 have either been detained or released with a notice to appear in immigration court, leaving the future of the Haitian immigrants uncertain and bleak.
Income and Livelihood
A paper published by the Insitute of Labour Economics, brought into light that there has been an increase of 0.7 per cent in employment from 2016 to 2019. Whereas, the unemployment rate has been staggering at 32.06 per cent- which means- every third young person in India is unemployed.
To this data, an article published by Indian Development Review brought attention to whether income is the right way to look at livelihoods? B.G Narresh, founder of TRRAIN- believes that there is a need for 2 pronged approaches based on livelihood creation and livelihood enhancement. On one hand, livelihood creation has a significant impact on families and incomes, whereas, livelihood enhancement adds to the existing family income.
So, what do you think is income should still be the big factor in understanding livelihoods?
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