1. Labor Standards as per International Labor
Organization (ILO)

2. What is International Labour Organization
(ILO)
 The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a specialized
agency of the United Nations system which seeks the
promotion of social justice and internationally recognized
human and labour rights.
2

3. When & Why ILO was created
 The ILO was created in response to the consciousness that followed
the First World War at the Peace Conference, which convened first in
Paris and then in Versailles. The ILO is the only major surviving
outcome of the Treaty of Versailles on 11 April 1919.
 The ILO provides technical assistance, mainly in the following fields:
• vocational training and vocational rehabilitation;
• employment policy;
• labour administration;
• labour law and industrial relations;
• conditions of work;
• management development;
• cooperatives; • social security;
• labour statistics, and occupational safety & health.
3

4. When & Why ILO was created
(cont…)
 The ILO formulates international labour standards . These
standards take the form of Conventions and
Recommendations, which set minimum standards in the field of
fundamental labour rights: freedom of association, the right to
organize, the right to collective bargaining, the abolition of
forced labour, equality of opportunity and treatment, as well as
other standards addressing conditions spanning across the
entire spectrum of work-related issues.
 International labour standards are legal instruments drawn up
by the ILO’s constituents (governments, employers and
workers) which set out basic principles and rights at work.
4

5. When & Why ILO was created
(cont…)
5

6. ILO in India
India – A statistical profile
 Population: 1 Billion. Plus
 Workforce: 384 Million Plus
 Organized labour force: 28 Million
 Unionized labour force: 16 Million Plus
 Unemployment: 40 Million Plus
 Educated unemployment increasing
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 Incidence of poverty poor among employed than unemployed!

7. India and International Trade
 India’s share in FDI very less
 India’s share in international trade declined from 1.5% at the
time of independence to 0.67% in 2000
 300 Japanese investment in India against 3000 in Singapore
 Major exports: textiles, gems & jewellery and software
 Exports: volumes up but revenues down
 Imports: revenue outgo increasing faster than volume
7

8. India & International Labour Standards
 ILO Member since 1919
 Ratified 38 out of 182 conventions
 Ratified only 3 of the 8 core conventions: 29,100 and 111
 Will soon ratify 182 conventions
 Still has reservations about ratifying 87 and 98
8

9. Child Labor in India
 India is sadly the home to the largest number of child labourers
in the world. The census found an increase in the number of
child labourers from 11.28 million in 1991 to 12.59 million in
2001.
 The problem of child labour continues to pose a challenge
before the nation. Government has been taking various proactive measures to tackle this problem. However, considering
the magnitude and extent of the problem and that it is
essentially a socio-economic problem inextricably linked to
poverty and illiteracy, it requires concerted efforts from all
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sections of the society to make a dent in the problem.

10. The Action Plan
 Legislative Action Plan for strict enforcement of Child Labour
Act and other labour laws to ensure that children are not
employed in hazardous employments, and that the working
conditions of children working in non-hazardous areas are
regulated in accordance with the provisions of the Child Labour
Act. It also entails further identification of additional occupations
and processes, which are detrimental to the health and safety
of the children.
 Focusing of General Developmental Programmes for Benefiting
Child Labour - As poverty is the root cause of child labour, the
action plan emphasizes the need to cover these children and
their families also under various poverty alleviation and
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employment generation schemes of the Government.

11. The Action Plan
(cont...)
 Project Based Plan of Action envisages starting of projects in
areas of high concentration of child labour. Pursuant to this, in
1988, the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme was
launched in 9 districts of high child labour endemicity in the
country. The Scheme envisages running of special schools for
child labour withdrawn from work. In the special schools, these
children are provided formal/non-formal education along with
vocational training, a stipend of Rs.150 per month,
supplementary nutrition and regular health check ups so as to
prepare them to join regular mainstream schools. Under the
Scheme, funds are given to the District Collectors for running
special schools for child labour. Most of these schools are run
by the NGOs in the district.
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12. Provisions for Child Labour
Constitutional Provisions
Article
21A
24
39
Title
Right to Education
Description
The State shall provide free and
compulsory education to all
children of the age of 6 to 14
years in such manner as the
State, by law, may determine.
No child below the age fourteen
Prohibition of Employment years shall be employed in work
of Children’s in Factories in any factory or mine or
engaged in any other
hazardous employment.
The state shall in
Particular direct its policy
towards securing
That the health and strength of
workers, men and women, and the
tender age of children are not
abused and that citizens are not
forced by economic necessity to
enter avocations unsuited to their
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age or strength

13. Provisions for Child Labour Legislative Provisions
Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986
 As per the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986 “child” means a person
who has not completed his 14th year of age.
 The Act prohibits employment of children in 18 occupations and 65 processes
contained in Part A & B of the Schedule to the Act (Section 3).
 Under the Act, a Technical Advisory Committee is constituted to advice for
inclusion of further occupations & processes in the Schedule.
 The Act regulates the condition of employment in all occupations and processes not
prohibited under the Act (Part III).
 Any person who employs any child in contravention of the provisions of section 3 of
the Act is liable for punishment with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less
than three months but which may extend to one year or with fine which shall not be
less than Rs. 10,000 but which may extend to Rs 20,000 or both. (Section 14).
 The Central and the State Governments enforce the provisions of the Act in their
respective spheres.
 Central Government is the appropriate authority for enforcement of Child Labour
(P&R) Act in respect of establishments under the control of Central Government or a
railway administration or a major port or a mine or oil field and in all other cases, the
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State Government.

14. Child Labour Policies
The Policy of the Government on the issue of Child Labour The National Policy
on Child Labour declared in August, 1987,contains the action plan for tackling
the problem of Child Labour. It envisages:
 A legislative action plan: The Government has enacted the Child Labour
(Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986 to prohibit the engagement of children
in certain employments and to regulate the conditions of work of children in
certain other employments.
 Focusing and convergence of general development programmes for
benefiting children wherever possible, A Core Group on convergence of
various welfare schemes of the Government has been constituted in the
Ministry of Labour & Employment to ensure that, the families of the Child
Labour are given priority for their upliftment.
 Project-based action plan of action for launching of projects for the welfare
of working children in areas of high concentration of Child Labour.
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15. CHILDLINE India Foundation
The calls would come late in the night:
"Didi, can you come? There's been a fight at the station."
"Didi, can you help? The police have battered Raju."
 And a CHILDLINE volunteer would get up and rush out to where a street
child was waiting. On one of those dashes across the sleeping city of
Mumbai , an idea was born.
 What street children in Mumbai needed was a helpline, their own
helpline.
 In 1996, Mumbai launched CHILDLINE, the country's first toll-free telehelpline for street children in distress. As of March 2011, total of 21 Million
calls since inception have been serviced by CHILDLINE service and
operates in 255 cities/districts in 30 States and UTs through its network of
415 partner organizations across India.
CHILDLINE Helpline No.: 1098
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16. Promoting Youth Entrepreneurship
 The UN/ILO/World Bank High-Level Panel on Youth
employment has identified Youth Entrepreneurship as
one of four priorities for a National Youth employment
Action Plan.
Youth Entrepreneurship - Making it easier to start and
run enterprises so as to provide more and better jobs
for young women and men
 The other complimentary areas being Employment
Creation, Employability and Equal Opportunities.
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17. Why promote Youth Entrepreneurship
“Entrepreneurship and business creation are also
a growing alternative for young people whose
age group often faces a labour market with
double digit unemployment rates. Traditional
career paths and opportunities are disappearing
rapidly. A growing number of young people are
taking up the challenge of starting their own
business.”
(Juan Somavia, Director General ILO)
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18. Advantage of promoting youth
entrepreneurship
 More employers
 Employees who better understand business
 More innovative and socially responsible enterprises
 More jobs (most likely jobs for other young people)
 Better informed consumers
…
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19. Faces of Indian Women
“One of the most enduring cliches about India is that it is
the country of contradictions. Like all cliches, this one too
has a grain of truth in it. At the heart of the contradiction
stand Indian women: for it is true to say that they are
among the most oppressed in the world, and it is equally
true to say that they are among the most liberated, the
most articulate and perhaps even the most free. Can these
two realities be simultaneously true?”
Urvashi Butalia

20. Place of women in Indian society:
A (cultural) historical perspective
• The Goddess (Devi)
• The mother
• The sister
• The wife
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21. Indian Women in Modern Times
Education:
 Literacy
› Gender gaps:
 Differences across states
(Kerala has highest female
literacy; Rajasthan, Bihar and
Uttar Pradesh have the lowest)
 Differences between rural and
urban areas
 Parental preference for boys
going to school
Female
Male
1971
22%
46%
1991
39%
64%
2003
48%
70%
 Higher dropout rate among
girls
21

22. Indian Women in Modern Times
Education:
Gender gaps in higher education
About 1 percent of total women population has
college education
Women account for a third of the students at
college/university level
In engineering and business, the proportion of female
students is much smaller
In education, nearly half of the students are women
22

23. Indian Women in Modern Times
Barriers to Female Education:
 Poverty: one-fourth of India’s population lives below the
poverty line (2002)
 Social values and parental preferences
 Inadequate school facilities
 Shortage of female teachers: 29 percent at the primary level
and 22 percent at the university level (1993)
 Gender bias in curriculum
23

24. Indian Women in Modern Times
Employment
 Difficult to get an overall picture of employment among
women in India
Most women work in the informal sector
 Women accounted for only 23 percent of the total workers in
the formal sector in 1991
 The number of female workers has increased faster than the
number of male workers
 Female unemployment rates are similar to male
unemployment rates
24

25. Indian Women in Modern Times
Barriers to Female Employment
Cultural Restrictions
Hierarchical society (caste system)
Purdah system: the veiling and seclusion of women
Discrimination at Workplace
More prevalent in fields where male competition is high
Less prevalent in fields where competition is low
Lack of employment opportunities
25

26. Indian Women in Modern Times
Empowerment
• Social Empowerment
• Education
• There is no direct relationship between education
and work force participation; but may affect their
participation in household decision making
• Economic Independence:
• Economic independence does not imply significant
improvement in social standing
• Culture and tradition play an important role
• A small fraction has opened up towards Western
values
26

27. Indian Women in Modern Times
• Economic Empowerment
• Property Rights
• Patriarchal society
• Economic Decision Making
• In the household
• In businesses
27

28. Indian Women in Modern Times
• Political Empowerment
• Representation in democratic institutions
• Government reservations policy for women: the
constitutional amendment of 1990s
28

29. TRIVIA
Recognize Famous Faces
29

30. 30

31. Famous Faces
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Indira Gandhi
Mother Teresa
Mira Nair
Kalpana Chawla
Gurinder Chadha
Arundhati Roy
Jhumpa Lahiri
Aishwarya Rai
Sushmita Sen
31

32. Introspection
Faces of an Indian woman
• Wife
• Mother
• Sister
• Bread earner
• Compassionate member of the society
32

33. Women and Legal Framework
Women specific Legislations
 Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956
 The Maternity Benefit Act 1961
 The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961
 Indecent
Representation
of
Women
(Prohibition) Act, 1986
 The Commission of Sati (Prevention)Act,
1987
 Protection of Women from Domestic
Violence Act, 2005
33

34. Evolution of Indian
Initiatives

35. Seventh Plan
• 1985- Ministry of Human Resource Development set
up
Department for Women and Child Development
constituted in HRD Ministry
• 27 major women specific schemes identified for
monitoring to assess quantum of funds/benefits
flowing to women
35

36. Eighth Plan
• The Eighth Plan (1992-97) for the first time highlighted the need
to ensure a definite flow of funds from general developmental
sectors to women
• It commented:
“ … special programmes on women should complement the general
development programmes. The latter in turn should reflect
greater gender sensitivity”
36

37. Ninth Plan
 Women’s Component Plan- 30% of funds were
sought to be ear-marked in all women related sectors –
inter-sectoral review and multi-sector approach
 Special vigil to be kept on the flow of the earmarked
funds/benefits
 Quantifies performance under Women’s Component
Plan in Ninth Plan-Approach Paper Tenth Plan
indicates 42.9% of gross budgetary support in 15
women related Ministries/Departments has gone to
women
37

38. Tenth Plan
• Reinforces commitment to gender budgeting to establish its genderdifferential impact and to translate gender commitments into
budgetary commitments.
• Aims at initiating immediate action in tying up the two effective
concepts of Women Component Plan (WCP) and Gender Budgeting to
play a complementary role to each other, and thus ensure both
preventive and post-facto action in enabling women to receive their
rightful share from all the women-related general development
sectors.
38

39. Holistic approach to Empowerment
Health
& Nut.
Water & San.
Political
Participation
Education
Asset base
Skills
Marketing
Technology
Credit
39

40. Action Areas
• Women availing services of public utilities like road
transport, power, water and sanitation,
telecommunication etc.
• Training of women as highly skilled workers- top end
skills
• Research/Technology for women
• Women in the work force
• Asset ownership by women
• Women as Entrepreneurs
40

41. • Implementation of Laws like
• Equal remuneration
• Minimum Wages
• Factories Act
• Infrastructure for women like
• Water and sanitation at workplace
• Creches
• Working Women Hostels
• Transport services
• Security
41

42. 2005-06 National Family Health Survey
(NFHS-3)
Gender Inequality and Women’s
Empowerment

43. Gender Disparity in Media
Exposure
Not only are fewer women than men literate but
fewer are also regularly exposed to media
• Percentage of men and women age 15-19
regularly exposed to print media, TV, radio, or
cinema
• Men
88%
• Women
71%
• Gender Disparity
19%
43

44. The majority of employed women
are engaged in agricultural work
Type of
worker
Occupational Distribution (%)
Women
Men
Professional
7
7
Sales
4
14
Service
7
5
Production
22
37
Agricultural
59
33
2
4
Other

45. Control over Women’s Earnings as Reported
by Currently Married Women and Men
Percent
Women’s report about
their own earnings
Men’s report about
their wife’s earnings
15
Mainly husband
16
57
Husband &
wife jointly
63
24
Mainly wife
20
45

46. Are some women more likely than others to
NOT participate in the use of their earnings?
Percent of currently married women
39
21
13
21
21
10
6
15-19
40-49
Age
Urban
Rural
Residence
None
12+
Education
8
Lowest
Highest
Wealth Index

47. What are some of the other hurdles that
prevent women from attaining gender
equality?
• Limited freedom of movement
• Gender norms that promote men’s control over women.
• Wife beating
• A husband’s right to have sex with his wife irrespective
of his wife’s wishes
47

48. Percentage of women age 15-49 who
are allowed to go alone to:
Market
51
Health facility
48
Places outside the
village/comm unity
38
All three places
None of the three
places
33
4
The majority of women have little freedom of
movement. Only one-third go alone to all three
destinations: the market, health facility and
outside the village or community.

49. Percentage who agree that a husband is
justified in hitting or beating his wife if she:
37
41
Shows disrespect for in-laws
24
25
He suspects she is unfaithful
13
Doesn’t cook properly
Refuses to have sex
8
20
Women
Men
14
Argues with him
26
30
Neglects the house or children
29
Goes out without telling him
At least one reason
23
35
29
51
54
49

50. Key Findings
• Women are disadvantaged absolutely and
relative to men in terms of access to education,
media exposure, and employment for cash.
• The majority of married women do not have the
final say on the use of their own earnings or all
other household decisions asked about.
• Traditional gender norms, particularly those
concerning wife beating, remain strongly
entrenched.
50

51. Bibliography
 http://www.childlineindia.org.in
 http://www.labour.nic.in
 http://www.ilo.org/global/lang--en/index.htm
 http://www.ilo.org/newdelhi/lang--en/index.htm
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52. We would be happy to answer questions and
receive comments
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