India: associations ask for help for workers in the informal sector

Migrant workers returning to New Delhi to look for work, August 18, 2020. AP Photo / Manish Swarup

Text by: Sébastien Farcis Follow

4 min

In India, the population is bearing the brunt of the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus, as the vast majority of workers are employed in the informal sector and have no social protection.

The economy has only partially recovered in recent months, and so a group of associations have just published a petition asking the government to provide financial assistance to informal workers in the coming months. 

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From our correspondent in New Delhi,

It collected 1.5 million signatures.

The petition comes from a group of 204 associations, led by the Alliance du Tamil Nadou (coalition of right-wing and center-right parties), and representing informal workers and human rights NGOs from 23 Indian states.

And they have just presented this petition which alerts the authorities to the fact that the

of Indian workers, without any direct financial compensation, is wreaking havoc: some sell their land or their house, others borrow at exorbitant rates. , and if this continues, the associations fear that this impoverishment will lead to an increase in child labor, situations of slavery or human trafficking.

They are therefore asking for one thing: the payment of 6,000 rupees per month, or 70 euros, for four months, to the most vulnerable families.

Direct aid needed

Aid that appears necessary and fully estimated, because this sum represents 40% of the average monthly income of an Indian, which is in the average of what low-income countries have offered to their population, according to the World Bank.

India has so far put in place two aid plans which mainly consist of an extension of food aid and the work system on public worksites, as well as aid to businesses.

►Also read: India sacrifices its labor rights to revive the economy

But very little direct financial aid, and this is lacking, as explained by Amit Basole, professor of economics at Azim Premji University in Bangalore.

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explains.

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Tens of millions of Indians at risk of falling below the poverty line

And this is a crucial time to do so.

Because tens, if not hundreds of millions of Indians could fall below the poverty line because of this health crisis.

But, according to this economist, there is still time to avoid it: everything will depend on what the government does in the coming weeks.

One problem will remain, however, how to get these funds to families in need.

You have to identify them first, which is a complex task in a huge country with a failing administration, and then get the money to them, when many poor families do not have bank accounts or live in remote areas. kilometers from the first bank branch.

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