Plight of Migrant Informal Workers in India in the Context of COVID-19 and Inadequacy of Existing Labour Legislations

Abstract

In India, around 90%–93% (about 450 million) of the total workforce are informal, which means they work without social and employment security. The recent dilution in labour laws in few states has revealed the plight of migrant workers after lockdowns. Migrant workers were mostly invisible but lockdown and subsequent walk back to villages made them visible in the public domain. This crisis has brought attention to labour market realities which are hitherto not discussed in public domain that much. This chapter proposes to reflect on the extent of informalization within the Indian labour market during the last three decades for the sake of more flexibility and lack of legal protection that afflicts conditions of informality. © 2022 selection and editorial matter, Indranil De, Soumyadip Chattopadhyay, Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan, and Kingshuk Sarkar;individual chapters, the contributors.