Challenges for India’s informal urban workforce

The recent protests of workers engaged in various industrial units in Noida point to the extreme precariousness of India’s urban centres. These protests are just the tip of the iceberg and may emerge in other parts of urban India as well. Over the past few decades, the bargaining power of workers, especially in the informal sector, has steadily declined vis-à-vis the state (municipal, State, and Union institutions) and their employers.

The informal workforce constitutes around 90% of India’s total employment. In urban areas, according to Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), regular wage or salaried employment remains low, which means that a vast majority of the workforce operates in informal or casual roles without any written contract.