Labour Law and Workers in the Informal Economy

A Pilot Project in India

WIEGO (Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing) is coordinating an international project on law and the informal economy. India has been selected for carrying out a pilot study in the first year of the project.

Project Objectives

The overall goal of the project has been to make a significant contribution to the development of an enabling legal environment for informal workers that promotes work and economic opportunity, labour rights, benefits and protection, and actively encourages the growth of strong, democratic, sustainable unions /member-based organizations of informal workers.

Specifically, the project has traced the development of law and policy vis-à-vis workers in the informal economy so as to contribute in the development of a platform of legal demands, and has developed an observatory that documents such legal and policy changes and the implications these have for the organisations of workers in the specific project areas.

Focus

The project has a special focus on own-account workers, especially women workers. The first phase of the project has focussed on five occupational groups: domestic workers, waste pickers, forest workers, fish workers and street vendors.

Project Team

Dr. Kamala Sankaran, Faculty of Law, University of Delhi led the research work for the first phase of the project. Ms. Renana Jhabvala, SEWA/WIEGO provided technical guidance to the project. The project was coordinated by Ms Shalini Sinha. Ms Roopa Madhav, lawyer, provided research support to the project. Mr. Shyam D. Nandan, lawyer, assisted in the collection and summarising of court judgements. Mr. M. Asim worked on the web page for this project.

Dr. Martha Chen and Ms. Chris Bonner, WIEGO provided valuable guidance to the project. Several experts and activists shared their knowledge and insights with project members in the course of the project. The project team gratefully acknowledges their contribution.

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