In wake of large scale migration of workers in unorganised sector due to impact of demonetisation, Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken has urged Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to initiate a dialogue with Associations of Small Scale Industries, Civil Contractors and Builders and those representing employers of such entities to prevent workers from going back to their home States from the national Capital.
He claimed that the demonetisation had led to about 88 per cent drop in retail sales and had triggered a productivity slump forcing workers in the unorganised sector to move back to their respective home States. Quoting the National Sample Survey Office report, he said 85.33 per cent of the 48.63 lakh workers were working in informal and unorganised sector in Delhi.
Maken said: “One of the most dreadful fallout of demonetisation has been unemployment or under employment. Due to drastic drop in retail sales and slump in productivity, the daily wagers and ad-hoc employees in the informal sector have become the worst sufferers.” He urged the CM to provide 50 per cent of minimum wages as “unemployment allowance” to the workforce in the unorganised sector hit by demonetisation.
Quoting the NSSO survey, Maken said that Delhi had a working population of 57.06 lakh in 2011-12. The Delhi Government data reveals that the total number of workers in organised sector was 8.43 lakh in 2009. He said this figure has remained almost consistent in the last one decade. “It is this 48.63 lakh informal workforce which is on the verge of losing employment.”
Maken said about 48.63 lakh informal work force was the first generation migratory population. He said reports of reverse migration have started pouring in which was a real danger for the city. “It is because of this un-organised / informal work force that Delhi sustains itself. They are the providers of affordable services and labour. In a way, as much un-acknowledged, they are the real lifeline of the city.”