Moa Jamir
Agriculture is often considered to be part of the Naga’s way of life and Nagaland is an agrarian State with nearly three-fourth of its population engaged and dependent on agriculture. Often, policymakers speak about productively harnessing the State’s relatively well-endowed natural resources for progressive economic growth and development. The doubling of farmers’ income, concurrent with the Union Government’s strategy, has been often espoused and numerous related activities are undertaken periodically.
Are these activities transforming into positive progress and development of the sector? The answer is discouraging if one goes by the registration on e-Shram portal, a national database of the Unorganised Workers (UWs) launched by the Union Ministry of Labour & Employment (MoLE) in August this year.
As of December 12, 2021, a total of 1,73,438 workers from Nagaland were registered on the portal, out of which a total of 1,60,117 were earning Rs 10,000 or less per month. Accordingly, 92.32% of those registered on the portal were surviving on a monthly income of Rs 10,000 or less per month, reflecting the low income and subsistence living of over 8.76% of the State’s 2011 census. Further, a total of 10,274 workers (5.92%) were in the income slab of Rs 10,001-15,000, indicating that almost all 1.73 lakh registered workers were living with income below Rs 15,000 per month.
According to the Ministry, a UW is defined as “any worker who is a home based-worker, self-employed worker or a wage worker in the unorganised sector including a worker in the organised sector who is not a member of ESIC or EPFO or not a government employee.” The unorganised sector “comprises of establishment/units which are engaged in the production/sale of goods/services and employ less than 10 workers” and covered by neither by the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) nor Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).
In other words, these 1.73 workers or families have nothing to fall back upon for any unforeseen circumstances, resulting in death, total or partial incapacitation, redundancy and joblessness.
Most importantly, as per the data on the portal, 1.09 lakh or 63.41% of the 1.73 lakh registered workers were engaged in the agriculture and allied sector, further reflecting the employment status and earning capacity in the State’s largest sector.
The majority of the workers were also in their most productive period, with a total of 99,696 (57.48%) falling the 18-40 years age group, while another 20.75% or 35,991 were in the 40-50 age group, indicating that many might have dependents. It is not remotely possible to ascertain the veracity of the information provided by each worker but taken at face value, the data reveals a concerning status.
However, the remuneration payable for workers employed in lower-grade jobs in the State of Nagaland is not most attractive either. As per the “Revision of Minimum Rates of Wages” notification (dated June 14, 2019) and posted on the Department of Labour’s website, the revised rates are Unskilled- Rs 176 per day; Semi-skilled Rs 210 per day; and Skilled – 235 Rs per day; the highest slab at around Rs 7,050 per month. The wages of the first two-categories are even less than the notified average wage of Rs 205 per day for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee in Nagaland during the last fiscal. If the rates are still prevailing, they are due for a much-needed revision.
Against this backdrop, it is imperative that the State Government come out with standalone interventions to improve the subsistence status of these workers, concurrently with various centrally sponsored schemes aimed at enhancing the earning capacity and livelihood. The interventions should include ensuring the implementation and monitoring of work-related welfare provisions of those engaged in the unroganised sector.
For any feedback, drop a line to jamir.moa@gmail.com
