May Day Manifesto - 2009
On the occasion of May Day – 2009, the day of the international solidarity and unity of the working class, the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) extends warmest revolutionary greetings to the entire working class and the toiling people of the country and the world as a whole. The CITU re-affirms its commitment to class struggle and complete emancipation of the human society from all forms of exploitation.
Fraternal Greetings
The CITU conveys its fraternal greetings to the working class of the socialist countries for holding high the banner of socialism.
The CITU also greets the working class of the developed capitalist countries for their grim battle for right to employment, right to higher living standard and in defence of trade union rights.
The CITU conveys greetings to the working class of the developing countries for their struggles against of imperialist machinations against their nations and the people abated by the ruling polity of the respective countries.
The CITU extends solidarity with the Agricultural Workers in their struggles for achieving for better wages, right to land and livelihood throughout the year and comprehensive social security and welfare measures. The CITU also conveys fraternal support to the poor and middle Peasants in their struggles for right to remunerative prices, institutional credit at low interest and infrastructural and input support through massive public investment in agriculture. The CITU appeals to the working class to stand by the masses of peasantry and strengthen worker-peasant unity for conducting united struggles against the anti-people policies of the neo-liberal regimes.
50 years of Cuban Revolution & Latin American Countries
The Cuban Revolution continues to be a beacon of hope for the toiling people all over world .The saga of 50 years of the Cuban Revolution is saga of a constant battle against the US imperialism. The Cuban experience conclusively demonstrates that the fight against imperialism and the fight for socialism cannot be separated.
Socialist Cuba continues to be the source of political awakening of the people in the entire Latin-American continent. The electoral defeat inflicted on the pro-US ruling polities one after another in the countries of Latin America by the people under the leadership of the Leftist Forces have delivered a severe blow both to the neo-liberal economic policies.
Fight the Imperialist Machinations
On this May Day the CITU condemns the aggressive hegemonic machinations of the imperialist forces led by US imperialism. Iraq and Afghanistan continues under US military occupation. While in Iraq resistance is growing from within, the US occupation of Afghanistan is contributing in deteriorating political situation in Pakistan.
Israel continues to occupy Palestinian and Arab territories. The recent Gaza massacre by Israeli military forces is the latest examples of imperialist brutality against humanity. Moreover, the US is continuing with its conspiracy to attack Iran, Syria, DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea).
On the issue of deployment of Missile Defence System in Europe, contradiction between USA and Russia is getting aggravated despite change of guard in US Administration.
Special Significance of This Year's May Day
This year's May Day shall be observed by the working class all over the world at a time when neo-liberal economic ideology under finance capital driven imperialist globalization has collapsed and the world is in the grip of a worst ever capitalist economic crisis since the Great Depression of 1930s. According to Cuban President Fidel Castro, "But it is not the usual crisis that happen every certain number of years, or even traumatic crisis of 1930; rather, the worst of all since the world started to pursue this model of growth and development."
True, neo-liberalism has been totally exposed and "the crisis has certainly destroyed the credibility of the neo-liberal ideology." The neo-liberal policies must be reversed and the struggle must march forward towards the ultimate goal of a new people oriented progressive social order. We must understand that the birth of a new social order over the graveyard of neo-liberalism is not automatic but depends on how far the working class movement would successfully organize the fight against the system in strict adherence to ideology of class struggle.
Impact of the Crisis on Working People
According to a ILO forecast in January this year, by the end of 2009 world unemployment could increase by 5 crore (50 millions) over 2007 alone reaching to 23 crore (230 millions) and besides that the number of working poor increasing by 20 crore (200 millions). Closure, lay offs, retrenchment, wage freeze, withdrawal or reduction in social security measures etc has been pushed to a dangerous dimension by the employers' class. Already 3.8 crore (38 millions) people have lost their jobs over last couple of months whereas job creation is going to be far below compared to what it was two years ago.
Private business houses are given huge financial support at the expense of Government exchequers in the name of bail-out packages. Huge concessions are doled out to the capitalist class through repeated reduction in capital cost, interst-rate, tax cuts etc. instead of job protection and employment generation. Around 32 governments, which had spent about 1.19 trillion US dollars on stimulus packages, had spent a meager 9.2 per cent on relief to suffering people. The so called stimulus packages are mainly aimed at heating the financial markets for the benefit of the speculation and finance capital and the amount flowing for real economy are a meager less than one fifth of the total financial bailout packages. The Director General of ILO has commented, "People, Families and Communities did not create the crisis and yet they carry the highest human costs. And they are legitimately protesting."
World-wide Wave of Strikes
The world is reverberating with Strikes and militant Street Demonstrations as well as different other forms of struggles participated by millions and millions of worker to protest against brazen neglect of toiling people by the Governments in handling the economic crisis. It is a situation of "billions for banks, pennies for people."
The countries under the European Union have witnessed the maximum protest action. Eight national Federations of Trade Unions of France have jointly organized two giant strikes in quick succession. On 29th January and on 19th March this year hundreds of thousands of French workers marched through the streets of the cities of France including Paris. The next action is on the May Day in which ten lakh (one million) workers will take out 200 rallies all over France.
On 13 February the Metal Workers’ Union had strike work in Italy. In solidarity with the strikers, "In Rome 700,000 blue and white collar workers marched side by side, in a unity that has not been seen in Italy for some time." Russia also witnessed militant street rallies in almost every major city in January. In Britain sectoral strikes took place in different industries. More than one hundred thousand workers from different Eurepean countries jointly staged millitant demonstration in London on 2nd April 09 at the venue of meeting of G-20 leaders including Obama, Gordon Brown, Sarkozy, Manmohan Singh.
Shocking Acts of the UPA Government
In our country the neo-liberal policies were introduced by the Congress Party-led Government headed by late Narsimha Rao with Manmohan Singh as Finance Minister. And the BJP-led NDA Government pursued the same policies more vigorously and caused maximum damage to the economy. During NDA regime, many blue chip capital rich CPSUs were sold out almost free of cost and involving deep corruption. After the defeat of BJP-led NDA in the hustings, the Congress party-led UPA Government that followed thereafter also tried to follow the same path leading to the present crisis.
In India the export-oriented sectors like textile and apparels, information technology and ITES segments, gems and jewelleries, leather, tea, automobile parts, construction, aviation etc. have already been seriously affected. Moreover Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs) have been hit hard. There has been full or partial closure of industrial units, particularly the export oriented ones, then cut in production in the industries due to down turn in the market and resultant retrenchment, lay off etc. The official figure of job losses so far is only five hundred thousand but the actual figure of job-losses are many times more and this is increasing by leaps and bounds every day.
The bail-out packages of the UPA Government are still prioritizing on pumping funds to financial market to allure foreign and Indian speculators and not at all on protecting employment, promoting public investment in agriculture, infrastructure, public services and material production and expanding social security and public distribution system – which alone can improve purchasing power of the people, expand domestic market and save the national economy and the mass of the people from the onslaught of the crisis. By their perverse actions, the Congress led UPA has clearly demonstrated that their commitment is not to the people and the country's interest but to the big Corporates and their strategic partners in the imperialist block.
The Ongoing Parliamentary Elections
This year May Day is being observed by the Indian working class in the midst of the on going parliamentary elections. The political parties in the electoral fray are mainly identified into three combinations. A major set back suffered by the UPA and the NDA led by the Congress party and the BJP respectively is that some of their major constituents have deserted them. On the other hand the Left parties have succeeded in launching the Non-Congress non-BJP Third Alternative. Reckoning fact is that the right from the inception the Third Alternative is continuously strengthening with support from different political parties. With every passing day the possibility of formation of an Alternative Government without BJP or Congress party at the centre after the elections is becoming more and more brighter.
The country needs a Government at the centre that would completely reverse the economic policies which have created the crisis and adopt new policies concretely directed to address the sufferings of the people inflicted by the economic crisis. Need of the hour is protection of jobs, generation of new employment, stimulating domestic market by empowering the people economically. Speculative economic activities must be rejected. In other words, not only dismantling of public sector must be stopped but further strengthened by fresh investment by Government.
This year's May Day calls for intensified campaign by working class to fight communalism and religious fundamentalism. The BJP-led NDA is dangerous for their rabid communal and divisive agenda. The election manifesto of BJP has revived its 'hindutva' agenda and made the 'Ram Mandir' an election issue. The Gujarat and Kandhmal (Orissa) carnage apart, communal riots has become the hall mark of the BJP ruled states. The BJP’s game plan is to divide the working class and divide the people.
Moreover, the fight against terrorism and the casteist forces are also very much important. On this May Day the working class of India has to take the pledge to relentlessly fight the forces pausing serious threat to national integrity, communal amity and unity of the working class till these forces are decisively defeated.
On this May Day let us remember that crores of Indian worker participated in 12 nation-wide general strikes, scores of industry-wise strikes and innumerable agitations, demonstrations and other forms of action against neo-liberalism in the country. But for these struggles of the Left Parties against UPA Government's move to privatize banking sector and opening up insurance sector to foreign insurance companies, privatize the pension and social security funds etc, the impact of the meltdown of stock market and consequent financial crisis would have been much more severe than what the country is experiencing today. Enactment of PFRDA Bill aimed at facilitating speculation with pension funds could be stalled by the Left Political Parties and Left Trade Union movement and has saved the social security savings amounting to thousands of crores of rupees belonging to lakhs of workers from the great risk of being wiped out anytime due to down turn in stock market, as has happened in USA and European countries. Unfortunately access to Provident Fund money has been granted to private mutual funds including Reliance Capital by the UPA Government. The working class will have to fight to reverse the decision.
This May Day enjoins upon the toiling people of the country a vital responsibility to ensure the defeat of the Congress-led UPA and the BJP-led NDA in the on going parliamentary elections. At the same time the victory of the Left, Democratic and Secular Alternative must be ensured so that an Alternative Government is formed after this elections at the centre.
The Pledge of May Day 2009
This year's May Day pledge must be to intensify class struggle at the level of nation states and to consolidate the international unity of the working class to fight the menacing burdens of the economic crisis – principally, job losses, wage freeze, casualisation of employment, deterioration in quality of employment, social security, protection of the rights of migrant workers.
Long Live International Solidarity of the Working Class
Down with Imperialist Globalisation
Down with Neo-liberal capitalist Path
Down with Capitalism
Forward to Socialism
Workers of the world, Unite!
Saturday, April 18, 2009
ILO report on Gender aspect
The other half
T.K. RAJALAKSHMI
in New Delhi
An International Labour Organisation report examines the gender aspect of the global financial crisis.
PAUL NORONHA
WOMEN ROLLING PAPAD at Dharavi in Mumbai. There are lakhs of women employed in home-based work, but they are "invisible" as they are unregistered workers.
THERE is no gainsaying the fact that labour markets will deteriorate because of the global economic crisis. A recent report, “Global Employment Trends for Women” by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), suggests that there is a gender aspect too to its impact on jobs. The magnitude of the crisis will unfold only in the months to come.
But responses from policymakers, including those in India, which began with a denial of the projected impact of the slowdown, have been slow and inadequate. In fact, trade unions in India were quite surprised when a Minister recommended that employees be prepared for wage cuts. And, given the fact that various gender differentials already exist in employment, working conditions and wages, the report, which looks at the gender impact of the economic crisis, gains more significance.
The report, a sequel to the “Global Employment Trends 2009” released early this year, underscores one of the recurrent themes in ILO documents over the years: lack of access to decent work will only increase poverty and social instability. It is not desirable, therefore, to have a huge workforce employed in what does not constitute decent work and decent terms of employment. Stating that the emerging trends are extremely worrying for both men and women, the report says the time has come for a coordinated effort internationally to stop the slowdown.
The report includes a new category called the vulnerable employed to denote own-account workers and unpaid family workers. These workers are in the informal or unorganised sector and are characterised by insecurity of employment, and have no social security, bargaining power or decent wages.
At the global level, the share of the vulnerable employed among all women employed is as high as 52.7 per cent compared with 49.1 per cent for men, says the report. Vulnerable employment exists all over the world but is acute in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. The conclusion that emerges is that the shift away from vulnerable forms of employment into regular, salaried wage work will result in real economic freedom and economic independence for women. This, in turn, will have an impact on the social status of women.
The report further says that while the share of women in wage and salaried work grew from 41.8 per cent in 1997 to 45.5 per cent in 2007, the corresponding increase of female own-account workers was much higher. Own-account workers have fewer formal arrangements of work, lack social protection and safety nets, and are incapable of generating enough savings at times of financial crises.
The report does not specify whether the disadvantages for women in the current global crisis will be more compared with those of men, but given the large employment of women in agriculture, where wages and returns in most parts of the world continue to be very low, there is no doubt that the economic situation for these sections can only be expected to worsen.
The report calls for greater investment in female education, changes in labour legislation and the setting up of certain conditions that enable sharing of family responsibilities so that women can participate equally in labour markets. Studies conducted by the ILO in Bangladesh show that as women’s education improved, the male-female wage gap decreased. But in addition to providing education, the onus on governments is to make commitments to free and accessible health care and provide foodgrains at low prices. In India, it is a well-known fact that high health care expenditure is a major reason for rural indebtedness and that out-of-pocket expenditure on health is as high as 80 per cent. The government’s expenditure on health is less than 1 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP).
Gender differentials, says the report, come from a number of reasons, including crowding of women in low-paying industries and differences in skills and work experience. More often than not, it is the demand from industry for women in low-paying jobs that results in the overcrowding of women. Certain types of industries prefer women for certain categories of jobs that offer low wages. Training women workers for skilled-category jobs is a non-existent practice. They are driven out of economic necessity to settle for low-paying jobs and debilitating working conditions.
The impact of the crisis, with its gender differentials, is not going to be the same in all parts of the world. The crisis may prove to be devastating for men and women equally in developed economies, with the unemployment rates for men slightly higher than those of women. According to the report, the ranks of the unemployed increased by 13.8 million between 2007 and 2008, marking the largest year-on-year increase in recent times.
In fact, what is noticeable is a reduction in the gender gap of the rate of unemployment. Of the total 193 million of unemployed the world over, men constituted 112 million and women 81 million. Access to labour markets is stated as one of the reasons for the low employment of women.
If decent work was easily accessible, there is little doubt that women would have joined the ranks of the employed in huge numbers. In the absence of work qualifying as decent and of a permanent nature, men have the greater advantage than women in negotiating jobs. Significantly, the question that needs to be addressed more aggressively by the ILO and others is whether decent work is easily available.
Gender pay gap
Gender pay gap is prevalent all over the world, including in the United States. The report notes with concern that the reduction in the gender pay gap has slowed down. In developed economies, there was a reduction in the gender gap in the unemployment rate in 2008, which implied that the situation of men in the labour market had worsened than that of women. It is for these reasons that the report is unable to conclude that women have been more adversely affected by the economic crisis in developed economies.
Between 1995 and 2005, the sector having the highest employment growth rate for both men and women in the developed economies was real estate, renting and business activities. In financial intermediation, the sector where the crisis originated, employment distribution was slightly more favourable to women than men. Hence, the report surmises, the impact of the crisis in this sector would have affected women more than men.
Economic status plays a major role in labour force participation by women. In developed countries, the report argues, a low rate of employment of women may indicate that women here have a choice and can afford not to enter the labour market. But in developing countries, this choice is absent. This, besides other social factors, is a reason for women opting not to enter the labour market. The report says that these women who stay at home do a lot of household activities and shoulder a lot of unpaid family care responsibilities, which does not reflect in the national incomes of governments as such work is classified as non-economic activity.
The broad trend observed in India and perhaps the rest of South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa is that women, out of sheer economic necessity and to meet the high cost of living, cutting across caste, community and religious lines, enter the labour market in a thousand ways which are still to be recognised as economic activity by their governments.
S. SIVA SARAVANAN
At a spinning mill in Dharapuram near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. The report says a very small proportion of women are employed in industry while the large majority are employed in agriculture.
For instance, there are lakhs of women employed in home-based work, doing piece-rate jobs where they are paid unimaginably low rates. They are quite invisible as they are unregistered workers, without any legislative or social entitlement. Likewise, there are hordes of women employed as domestic workers, who again lack any wage structure or protective legislative system.
As the report shows, a very small proportion of women are employed in industry while the large majority are employed in agriculture. There is what is called an overrepresentation of women in agriculture. Almost everywhere in the world, there are fewer women employed in industry as compared to other sectors.
While the feminisation of agriculture and of poverty has become a cliched term, the feminisation of industry is yet to happen. What the report does not explain are the reasons for the growing feminisation of agriculture. Is it a sign of distress or of hidden prosperity? Globally, the share of women employed in agriculture stands at 35.4 per cent as compared to 32.2 per cent for men. It is almost 60 per cent in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, which perhaps means that this is where governments ought to direct their policies for women in order to create decent conditions of work.
Services sector
The services sector is another area which has seen a burgeoning of female employment in recent times. According to the report, in 2008, the services sector accounted for 46.3 per cent of all female employment while male employment comprised 41.2 per cent. The conditions of work and wages, of course, vary from region to region though it can be safely surmised that the worst conditions prevail in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Much of the work in agriculture as well as the services sector is unorganised, devoid of any overarching legislation that guarantees social security and decent wages.
But then there are government policies itself which may need to be reversed. The report highlights the global food crisis that originated with the neglect of agriculture and hit countries in Africa the most. This, in turn, affected women who were employed, and continue to be employed, in agriculture in large numbers. Africa, which was more than self-sufficient in food 50 years ago, is now a massive food importer, says the report, quoting a study.
The report’s analysis that one of the reasons for the failure of the sector is gender inequality and lack of empowerment of women is inadequate in the least as much of international attention and donor-driven funding for development for several decades has been in Africa. There is a need to introspect on the kind of programmes, including structural adjustment, which much of Africa was made to undergo in the past few decades, and the impact of such externally imposed policies on agriculture and much of the social sector. The report recommends greater investment in rural infrastructure, education and social capital, something that the Left parties in India have been advocating. •
T.K. RAJALAKSHMI
in New Delhi
An International Labour Organisation report examines the gender aspect of the global financial crisis.
PAUL NORONHA
WOMEN ROLLING PAPAD at Dharavi in Mumbai. There are lakhs of women employed in home-based work, but they are "invisible" as they are unregistered workers.
THERE is no gainsaying the fact that labour markets will deteriorate because of the global economic crisis. A recent report, “Global Employment Trends for Women” by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), suggests that there is a gender aspect too to its impact on jobs. The magnitude of the crisis will unfold only in the months to come.
But responses from policymakers, including those in India, which began with a denial of the projected impact of the slowdown, have been slow and inadequate. In fact, trade unions in India were quite surprised when a Minister recommended that employees be prepared for wage cuts. And, given the fact that various gender differentials already exist in employment, working conditions and wages, the report, which looks at the gender impact of the economic crisis, gains more significance.
The report, a sequel to the “Global Employment Trends 2009” released early this year, underscores one of the recurrent themes in ILO documents over the years: lack of access to decent work will only increase poverty and social instability. It is not desirable, therefore, to have a huge workforce employed in what does not constitute decent work and decent terms of employment. Stating that the emerging trends are extremely worrying for both men and women, the report says the time has come for a coordinated effort internationally to stop the slowdown.
The report includes a new category called the vulnerable employed to denote own-account workers and unpaid family workers. These workers are in the informal or unorganised sector and are characterised by insecurity of employment, and have no social security, bargaining power or decent wages.
At the global level, the share of the vulnerable employed among all women employed is as high as 52.7 per cent compared with 49.1 per cent for men, says the report. Vulnerable employment exists all over the world but is acute in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. The conclusion that emerges is that the shift away from vulnerable forms of employment into regular, salaried wage work will result in real economic freedom and economic independence for women. This, in turn, will have an impact on the social status of women.
The report further says that while the share of women in wage and salaried work grew from 41.8 per cent in 1997 to 45.5 per cent in 2007, the corresponding increase of female own-account workers was much higher. Own-account workers have fewer formal arrangements of work, lack social protection and safety nets, and are incapable of generating enough savings at times of financial crises.
The report does not specify whether the disadvantages for women in the current global crisis will be more compared with those of men, but given the large employment of women in agriculture, where wages and returns in most parts of the world continue to be very low, there is no doubt that the economic situation for these sections can only be expected to worsen.
The report calls for greater investment in female education, changes in labour legislation and the setting up of certain conditions that enable sharing of family responsibilities so that women can participate equally in labour markets. Studies conducted by the ILO in Bangladesh show that as women’s education improved, the male-female wage gap decreased. But in addition to providing education, the onus on governments is to make commitments to free and accessible health care and provide foodgrains at low prices. In India, it is a well-known fact that high health care expenditure is a major reason for rural indebtedness and that out-of-pocket expenditure on health is as high as 80 per cent. The government’s expenditure on health is less than 1 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP).
Gender differentials, says the report, come from a number of reasons, including crowding of women in low-paying industries and differences in skills and work experience. More often than not, it is the demand from industry for women in low-paying jobs that results in the overcrowding of women. Certain types of industries prefer women for certain categories of jobs that offer low wages. Training women workers for skilled-category jobs is a non-existent practice. They are driven out of economic necessity to settle for low-paying jobs and debilitating working conditions.
The impact of the crisis, with its gender differentials, is not going to be the same in all parts of the world. The crisis may prove to be devastating for men and women equally in developed economies, with the unemployment rates for men slightly higher than those of women. According to the report, the ranks of the unemployed increased by 13.8 million between 2007 and 2008, marking the largest year-on-year increase in recent times.
In fact, what is noticeable is a reduction in the gender gap of the rate of unemployment. Of the total 193 million of unemployed the world over, men constituted 112 million and women 81 million. Access to labour markets is stated as one of the reasons for the low employment of women.
If decent work was easily accessible, there is little doubt that women would have joined the ranks of the employed in huge numbers. In the absence of work qualifying as decent and of a permanent nature, men have the greater advantage than women in negotiating jobs. Significantly, the question that needs to be addressed more aggressively by the ILO and others is whether decent work is easily available.
Gender pay gap
Gender pay gap is prevalent all over the world, including in the United States. The report notes with concern that the reduction in the gender pay gap has slowed down. In developed economies, there was a reduction in the gender gap in the unemployment rate in 2008, which implied that the situation of men in the labour market had worsened than that of women. It is for these reasons that the report is unable to conclude that women have been more adversely affected by the economic crisis in developed economies.
Between 1995 and 2005, the sector having the highest employment growth rate for both men and women in the developed economies was real estate, renting and business activities. In financial intermediation, the sector where the crisis originated, employment distribution was slightly more favourable to women than men. Hence, the report surmises, the impact of the crisis in this sector would have affected women more than men.
Economic status plays a major role in labour force participation by women. In developed countries, the report argues, a low rate of employment of women may indicate that women here have a choice and can afford not to enter the labour market. But in developing countries, this choice is absent. This, besides other social factors, is a reason for women opting not to enter the labour market. The report says that these women who stay at home do a lot of household activities and shoulder a lot of unpaid family care responsibilities, which does not reflect in the national incomes of governments as such work is classified as non-economic activity.
The broad trend observed in India and perhaps the rest of South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa is that women, out of sheer economic necessity and to meet the high cost of living, cutting across caste, community and religious lines, enter the labour market in a thousand ways which are still to be recognised as economic activity by their governments.
S. SIVA SARAVANAN
At a spinning mill in Dharapuram near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. The report says a very small proportion of women are employed in industry while the large majority are employed in agriculture.
For instance, there are lakhs of women employed in home-based work, doing piece-rate jobs where they are paid unimaginably low rates. They are quite invisible as they are unregistered workers, without any legislative or social entitlement. Likewise, there are hordes of women employed as domestic workers, who again lack any wage structure or protective legislative system.
As the report shows, a very small proportion of women are employed in industry while the large majority are employed in agriculture. There is what is called an overrepresentation of women in agriculture. Almost everywhere in the world, there are fewer women employed in industry as compared to other sectors.
While the feminisation of agriculture and of poverty has become a cliched term, the feminisation of industry is yet to happen. What the report does not explain are the reasons for the growing feminisation of agriculture. Is it a sign of distress or of hidden prosperity? Globally, the share of women employed in agriculture stands at 35.4 per cent as compared to 32.2 per cent for men. It is almost 60 per cent in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, which perhaps means that this is where governments ought to direct their policies for women in order to create decent conditions of work.
Services sector
The services sector is another area which has seen a burgeoning of female employment in recent times. According to the report, in 2008, the services sector accounted for 46.3 per cent of all female employment while male employment comprised 41.2 per cent. The conditions of work and wages, of course, vary from region to region though it can be safely surmised that the worst conditions prevail in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Much of the work in agriculture as well as the services sector is unorganised, devoid of any overarching legislation that guarantees social security and decent wages.
But then there are government policies itself which may need to be reversed. The report highlights the global food crisis that originated with the neglect of agriculture and hit countries in Africa the most. This, in turn, affected women who were employed, and continue to be employed, in agriculture in large numbers. Africa, which was more than self-sufficient in food 50 years ago, is now a massive food importer, says the report, quoting a study.
The report’s analysis that one of the reasons for the failure of the sector is gender inequality and lack of empowerment of women is inadequate in the least as much of international attention and donor-driven funding for development for several decades has been in Africa. There is a need to introspect on the kind of programmes, including structural adjustment, which much of Africa was made to undergo in the past few decades, and the impact of such externally imposed policies on agriculture and much of the social sector. The report recommends greater investment in rural infrastructure, education and social capital, something that the Left parties in India have been advocating. •
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