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Intersection of Labour and Technology in India's Informal Economy: A Policy Perspective

Intersection of Labour and Technology in India's Informal Economy: A Policy Perspective

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Intersection of Labour and Technology in India's Informal Economy: A Policy Perspective
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<strong>Centre for Studies in Science Policy School of Social Sciences, JNU</strong> a Talk on <strong>Intersection of Labour and Technology in India's Informal Economy: A Policy Perspective</strong> by  <strong>Dr Kingshuk Sarkar</strong> Fellow, V V Giri National Labour Institute, NOIDA <strong>Wednesday, 16th November 2016</strong> <strong>Abstract: </strong>There have been some significant changes in the world of work in the last two decades and half particularly since the time India initiated economic reforms in 1991. These changes are happening as part of a global phenomenon. The crux of this phenomenon is the quest towards producing at the least cost possible and capital moves anywhere the cost of production is the minimum. Since labour constitutes a significant component of cost of production, structure of production is getting reorganized in such a manner that return to labour is minimized in the process. This is manifesting itself in the form of disintegration of production structure such that labour as such undergoes sunstantial changes in its character. Labour is getting more informalized, casualized and decentralized over time to respond to market fluctuations and flexibility of the cost of production structure. Such outlook perceives labour just another input in the production function and tries to extract maximum return in exchange of minimum compensation. It undermines the living characteristics of labour and the fact that labour as a class constitutes the major chunk of consumers in macro sense. Prevailing prolonged global economic recession and that economy in general is suffering from lack of aggregate demand bears testimony to such phenomenon. Labour market is getting diffused as centralized system of production is breaking down and outsourcing is practiced extensively. Old factory system of production is making way for a work environment where domestic space becomes the pre-dominant work space. Wage labour is getting replaced by self-employed mass contributing from the fringe. The identity of labour as a class is at stake. The employer-employee relation is being diluted to a great extent and there has been substantial dismantling of written contract between the two. In such an environment, application of legislations safeguarding the interests of workers becomes more compromised. Further, recent attempts towards labour law reforms are further aggravating the terms of employment and conditions of labour. Enforcement of labour laws have become uniformly weak over the country and basic inspection norms are being flouted which is weakening the labour administrative structure. The government is focusing on redistribution through various social security and welfare schemes but at the same time statutory provisions are not being appropriately implemented. Tripartite consultation as an integral part of social dialogue is getting marginalized. Traditional trade union movement weakened over time as because they didn't represent informal and vulnerable sections of the workers any more. Their place is being increasingly taken over by civil society organizations and NGOs. <strong>About the Speaker: </strong>Dr. Kingshuk Sarkar is presently working as Fellow in the VV Giri National Labour Institute, Noida on deputation. He primarily works for Govt. of West Bengal as Deputy Labour Commissioner. He has done PhD in Economics from Centre for Economic Studies &amp; Planning in Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Earlier he completed Masters in Economics from Kolkata University and M.Phil in Economics from Jadavpur University. His areas of interests are plantation economics, labour economics, law and economics, labour administration, etc. He can be contacted at kingshuk71@hotmail.com

A warm welcome to the modified and updated website of the Centre for East Asian Studies. The East Asian region has been at the forefront of several path-breaking changes since 1970s beginning with the redefining the development architecture with its State-led development model besides emerging as a major region in the global politics and a key hub of the sophisticated technologies. The Centre is one of the thirteen Centres of the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi that provides a holistic understanding of the region.

Initially, established as a Centre for Chinese and Japanese Studies, it subsequently grew to include Korean Studies as well. At present there are eight faculty members in the Centre. Several distinguished faculty who have now retired include the late Prof. Gargi Dutt, Prof. P.A.N. Murthy, Prof. G.P. Deshpande, Dr. Nranarayan Das, Prof. R.R. Krishnan and Prof. K.V. Kesavan. Besides, Dr. Madhu Bhalla served at the Centre in Chinese Studies Programme during 1994-2006. In addition, Ms. Kamlesh Jain and Dr. M. M. Kunju served the Centre as the Documentation Officers in Chinese and Japanese Studies respectively.

The academic curriculum covers both modern and contemporary facets of East Asia as each scholar specializes in an area of his/her interest in the region. The integrated course involves two semesters of classes at the M. Phil programme and a dissertation for the M. Phil and a thesis for Ph. D programme respectively. The central objective is to impart an interdisciplinary knowledge and understanding of history, foreign policy, government and politics, society and culture and political economy of the respective areas. Students can explore new and emerging themes such as East Asian regionalism, the evolving East Asian Community, the rise of China, resurgence of Japan and the prospects for reunification of the Korean peninsula. Additionally, the Centre lays great emphasis on the building of language skills. The background of scholars includes mostly from the social science disciplines; History, Political Science, Economics, Sociology, International Relations and language.

Several students of the centre have been recipients of prestigious research fellowships awarded by Japan Foundation, Mombusho (Ministry of Education, Government of Japan), Saburo Okita Memorial Fellowship, Nippon Foundation, Korea Foundation, Nehru Memorial Fellowship, and Fellowship from the Chinese and Taiwanese Governments. Besides, students from Japan receive fellowship from the Indian Council of Cultural Relations.