Keywords: Organized sector, Inequality, Social Security, Economic Benefits, Bommanahalli
Introduction
Poverty and social insecurities are the major challenges to human lives creating human security issues. Both the Central and State governments in India offer some kind of social security schemes like old-age pension, widow pension, and monthly stipend for unemployed women and unemployed youth. But all these short-term support systems do not provide true welfare. Employment is often viewed as a way out to poverty. But the low-paid employments are not secure and they do not lead to better life situations. Secure employment is the real long-term support system that can protect people’s lives. However, such a secure employment is very rare in developing countries like India and many people face severe economic and social inequalities in its absence. Human life becomes intolerable with these inequalities of daily life. This is very evident in low-pay and no-pay sectors. Adequate payment and security schemes in the working sector is also essential for human well-being and sustainable societal growth. Compared to the developed world, these are vital prerequisites for the developing countries. India has achieved considerable results in poverty eradication, but still, 2.2% of Indian population are below the World Bank’s poverty-line. Complete eradication of poverty will be possible only through more secure and adequately paid employment opportunities. Creation of regular and quality jobs in the labour market helping people to meet their essential needs and lead a basic standard of life is vital for countries like India to come out of poverty-trap.
Indian employment sector is mainly divided into organized and unorganized or formal and informal. Organized sector follows the guidelines and regulations of the government, whereas unorganized sector does not strictly follow such directives. In the organized sector, some mechanism will be there to ensure social security, whereas in the unorganized sector it is predominantly left with the mercy of the employer. Researchers claim that the informal or unorganized sector due to its low-quality jobs and poor working conditions do not contribute to poverty eradication and social security. Employment facilities and benefits are thus less favourable in unorganized sector compared to unorganized sector. However, though there is a clear difference between organized and unorganized sectors, studies show that there is the presence of unorganized workers in the formal sector. Millions of people work in Indian organised sectors as informal workers. Most of them “work without written contracts, without paid leave, without social security benefits and have temporary employment.” Such a scenario challenges the credibility of many organized sectors in providing social security. Garment industry which is considered as an organised sector faces such a paradox of having workers in informal and insecure conditions. Many studies have been undertaken on the garments industry sector in Bangalore. The studies focused on the unorganized women employees, supply chain management, garment employees’ plight, quality of work-life, job satisfaction and employee welfare, and the like. But not many studies were conducted on the social insecurities of unorganized workers in the formal garment industrial sector.
In the light of the above, this paper focuses on understanding the poverty and social security conditions of the informal workers in the garment industry in the Bommanahalli area of Bangalore Urban. Welshman argues that the triadic relationship of poverty, work, and wages has been the focus of many social science researchers for the last few decades. This paper also tries to address unorganized workers’ access to poverty alleviation and social security programs though their current employment situations in the formal garment industrial sector. The authors, on the basis of the empirical data collected, suggest certain policy guidelines for the effectiveness of employment in eradicating poverty and ensuring social security.
Unorganised Workers in Garment Industry
Garment industry is the second largest employment generator of India and a key contributor to its economic growth, approximately 2% of the GDP. Karnataka is the second largest garments sector employer State in India. It is estimated that Karnataka produces 20% of the total garments’ production of India employing around 6 lakh people and contributing 11% of national exports. The city of Bangalore is known as India’s “Garment Capital” and it has more than 400 garments units. Garment industries can be divided into three groups: cut-to-pack companies, where the whole work of a garment from cutting, stitching, and packing to dispatching is done; either cutting, stitching, ironing, or packing firms, where only one of the core works are done; and job work companies, where they do not have enough orders but have human resources and machineries, and so, they take orders for piece work from big companies. Garment industry is both organized and unorganized. But if a garment industry unit employs more than 10 workers with the aid of power or more than 20 persons without the aid of power, then it has to follow the rules, regulations, and guidelines of the government, by which it will become part of the organized sector. Both organized and unorganized sectors have its own specific guidelines to be followed. However, our concern is only with regard to the unorganized workers in the formal sector of garments industry.
Methodology
The paper follows qualitative methodology employing interview method. Qualitative research is followed thinking that it will provide a deeper understanding in relation to the real problems of unorganized workers. This study follows ‘grounded theory’ as the experiences and interactions with the selected samples can lead to a better explanation and understanding. Unstructured interviews are conducted to understand whether there are unorganized workers and how the management treats them in the formal garments industrial sector in Bommanahalli area of Bangalore. These interviews focus on the poor working and living conditions and social insecurities of the unorganized workers in the garments industry. Besides, the possibility of unorganized workers to come out of poverty and social insecurities through this job will be critically analysed.
Bommanahalli is part of the urban Bangalore and one of the zones of BBMP. It is also one among the 225 Assembly Constituencies of Karnataka and comes under the Bangalore South Lok Sabha constituency. This area has a population of around 5 lakhs. It is adjacent to Bangalore-Hosur Road (NH 44). Many industries are situated in Bommanahalli including garments firms. Garment companies in Bommanahalli area can be divided into three on the basis of its size. The companies with more than 200 workers, 100-200 workers, and 10-100 workers. The number of companies in the first category will be approximately 20-30, in the second category there are almost 50-70, and in the third category there are more than 100 companies. Most of the companies perform domestic business rather than the export. 10 sample companies are studied, 7 from the second category and 3 from first category. The researchers interacted with 20 employees, 10 from the administrative staff and 10 from the unorganized workers. The selected samples preferred anonymity due to many factors like job insecurity and threats from the management.
The study was conducted based on two hypotheses:
H1: Organized garment industry keeps unorganized workers for economic benefits
H2: Unorganized workers face severe social insecurities and extreme poverty due to lack of proper payment and social security schemes
Analysis
H1: Organized garment industry keeps unorganized workers for economic benefits
Most of the firms in the garments sector in Bommanahalli area come under the Factories Act of 1948 as they function with the aid of power and have more than ten workers. The Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Act of 2008 says that a firm which employs less than 10 workers is an unorganized sector. It implies that all firms which employ more than 10 workers come under the category of organized sector. Accordingly, the rules and guidelines of the government with regard to workers should be applicable in these firms making it an organized sector. However, all of these industries, with very few exceptions, keep unorganized workers for the economic benefits of the owners. 100% of the unorganized workers are women and 90% among them are migrants. 80% of the interviewed administration staff affirmed that they keep separate registers for the organized and unorganized workers and they prefer women to keep as unorganized workers as it is easy to convince them and tackle their protest, if any. 20% denied of keeping such registers. But the employees, who are working in those companies, stated that they are given neither appointment letter nor ID card of the company. They are paid comparatively less than the other workers and while giving payment they are asked to sign in a separate register, not in a voucher. This shows that those 20% companies also keep unorganized workers even though they are not disclosing the details. All the 100% companies ask their unorganized workers to hide themselves when there are some inspections. 80% said that the management used to tackle the inspectors without coming into the floors and 20% said that they have just come but did not make any thorough inspection. The administration staff said that the advantage of keeping more unorganized workers is that the owners need not follow strict guidelines with regard to basic salary, PF and ESI share, yearly increment, bonus, and maternity benefits. Besides, the management can dismiss the workers at their will.
H2: Unorganized workers face severe social insecurities and extreme poverty due to lack of proper payment and social security schemes
The interactions with the administration staff and the unorganized workers revealed that they are treated as second category workers in the firms. Most of them come from very poor background with less qualification and skills. They are paid 1000-2000 below the basic minimum salary fixed by the government. But surprisingly, 70% of the unorganized workers are not aware that they are paid less than the basic minimum salary, and 30% are aware that they are paid less but not aware that there is a government regulation for basic minimum salary. The administrative staff somehow manage to convince them that the difference in salary between them and other workers is due to their lack of skill and experience. 70% of the workers are told that there is a comparatively long governmental procedure to enrol them in the official list of workers and thereby 60% are cursing the inefficiency of the government. They are also told that they will get ESI, PF and other social benefits once their documents are officially cleared by the government officials. From the less monthly salary they get, a portion is again cut for giving the middlemen who brought them to the company. So, the middlemen get monthly payment without doing anything, at the cost of these poor workers. 100% are not aware of the social security schemes and benefits that are under Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Act of 2008.
The unorganized workers are not properly and timely paid for their work. All of them said that they are not timely paid. For instance, they are supposed to get the salary of August 2024 by 05 September 2024, most of them get payment only by 10 or 12 September. When the payment is delayed, they get rid of their freedom to shift to another firm as they will be coming for work until the payment is done (approximately 10-12 days) and they also face economic issues. 90% employers work for more than 10 hours each/six days in a week. 80% are not paid overtime benefits, holiday allowance, and cash leaves. 90% workers stay in rented homes and are supposed to give the rent by 05th of every month. 2- or 3-days extensions will be permitted but delaying payment for more days cause them trouble. 70% workers acknowledged that in such situation they take money from money lenders, which cause them huge financial burden. Besides, due to lack of ESI and other health benefits, 80% visit medical stores without consulting the Registered Medical Practitioner (RMP) and buy the medicine, which the store keeper suggests. 30% admitted that they doubt the quality of such medicines. 90% are not happy with the education they provide to their children as they are sent to government institutions. According to them, government educational institutions are not giving quality education and their children also will be forced to do some menial works like them. They curse their poor financial capacity for this injustice towards their children. 80% said that they make compromises with regard to quality food and clothes due to lack of money. 70% complained that they are provided neither clean restrooms nor good dining space. 80% lamented that they cannot take leave even when they are sick and they skip familial functions due to financial requirements. 100% said that both husband-and-wife work, but for 60% husband is barely contributing anything for the daily family financial activities. This causes more pressure on these unorganized workers and forces them to work in such a low-paid and insecure industries.
Regulatory Framework Governing the Unorganized Workers in Formal Sector
An unorganized sector is defined as that which consists of “all unincorporated private enterprises owned by individuals or households engaged in the sale and production of goods and services operated on a proprietary or partnership basis with less than ten total workers.” The social security of those workers has been the focus of many policy plannings as they constitute almost 90% of India’s workforce. Therefore, the Indian Parliament enacted the Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008, which came into force in 2009. An unorganized worker is defined as “a home-based worker, self-employed worker or a wage worker in the unorganized sector and includes a worker in the organized sector who is not covered by any of the Acts mentioned in Schedule II of this Act.” Accordingly, an unorganized worker in a formal sector also comes under the provisions of this Act. The Act primarily oriented “to provide for social security and welfare of unorganized workers.” The Schedule I of the Act enlists ten schemes for the social security of unorganized workers with regard to life and disability, health and maternity benefits, and old age protection.
With regard to life and disability, two schemes were introduced: Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) in 2015. Risk coverage under PMJJBY is ₹2 lakhs in case of the death of the insured, due to any reason, with an annual premium of ₹436. PMSBY gives a coverage of ₹2 lakhs in case of accidental death or permanent disability and ₹1lakh for partial disability at an annual premium of ₹20. For health and maternity benefits, the scheme Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) was introduced in 2018. It provides a family health insurance coverage of ₹5 lakhs for secondary and tertiary care related hospitalization. For old age protection, Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan Yojana (PM-SYM) was introduced in 2019, which gives monthly pension of ₹3000 to unorganized workers. All these Yojanas need registration into the unorganized workers’ portal and contribution from the workers.
The benefits of the Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Act should reach to the deserving people through its enforcement mechanism, Worker Facilitation Centre (WFC), which the Karnataka government started in 2011 with help of German International Cooperation (GIC) “to provide information on social protection schemes, identify and register prospective beneficiaries, and to help the users to access benefits and services.” Under the WFC, many community facilitators (CFs) are appointed who duty is to make the unorganized workers enrolled into e-SHRAM, the portal for self-registration of unorganized workers, and to implement its provisions for their benefits.
Discussion
People who do underpaid and undervalued jobs are not duly respected in the society and not properly counted in the national landscape. These people are often the forgotten or invisible categories of the society. This is the problem with unorganized workers whether in formal or informal sector. The unorganized workers in a formal sector like garment industry are not officially included in the register. A separate register is kept only for them, which is known to the management, HR officers, and the accounts’ section. This register is never shown to labour officers, CFs, or other inspectors. It shows that they are socially excluded. They lack the identity of the workers, and as per the official data they belong to non-working group. But from 2009 onwards, with the enforcement of the Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Act of 2008, the government consider them in the category of unorganized workers who can have all the benefits of unorganized sector workers. But unfortunately, they are not aware of these schemes or benefits. 100% confirmed that they have not heard about CFs and no one has visited them in the factory premise or home asking about their living or working situations.
Unawareness of the workers with regard to the benefits and social security schemes are the biggest issue in the field. They are more concerned about the monthly salary. 100% said that going to the government institutions for having such kind of schemes is very hectic as it is time-consuming and costly business. They are not aware of the e-portal and do not know the procedure to be followed. “Illiteracy among workers, low awareness of entitlements and a lack of access to organizations and groups that can represent workers’ interests” are the drawbacks for this tragic scenario. The Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Act, which includes the ‘unorganized’ workers in an organized sector, stipulated minimum social security benefits like health and maternity benefits, old-age pension, and death and disability grants. But the issue is that the workers are not aware of these schemes. Though the WFCs started to function from 2011 onwards for the benefit of unorganized workers, it does not reach to the deserving people as we saw in the results. Since most of them are migrant workers, the CFs do not come into their rented houses.
Though the unorganized workers, who work in formal sectors, are counted among the unorganized workers from the 2009 onwards, they do not get the benefits of the organized workers. This is injustice and inequality. Both organized and unorganized workers in a formal sector do the same work, but some are given all the benefits as they belong to the category of the organized workers whereas the majority is counted among the unorganized workers and denied of their deserved rights. The Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Act clearly states that the unorganized workers include all those employees who are not covered by the Acts mentioned in its Schedule II, which are applicable to the organized workers of the formal sector. The schedule II enlists 6 Acts such as The Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923; the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947; the Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948; the Employees’ Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952; the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961; and the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972. Hence, the benefits of these six Acts are applicable only to the organized workers in the formal garment industry.
Studies reveal that informal employers are higher than formal employers in organized sector. Compared to 42.2% formal employees, 57.8% informal employees work in organized sector. Whereas in unorganized sector, the formal employees are just 0.6% and the rest are informal employees. This shows that the formal/organized sector prefers to employ more informal employees than formal ones. This is due to the economic burdens the number of formal employees can cause to employers on account of ESI, PF, maternity benefits, and the like. All employees who get less than 21,000/ monthly salary come under the benefits of ESI. The employer has to make 3.25% of the wages payable to the employee should contribute to ESI. The employer has to pay “eight and one-third percent” of the basic salary to the EPF. The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 states that women who are employed in an organized sector is eligible for 26 weeks leave with payment in connection with her pregnancy. Besides the Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Act also speaks about the employer’s contribution.
National minimum wage is the lowest minimum possible wage for the work but it is comparatively less than the minimum required income for a meaningful life. However, there is a minimum basic wage which needs to be paid. The law states that “no employer shall pay to any employee wages less than the minimum rate of wages notified by the appropriate government.” The Karnataka government stipulates that for a skilled, semi-skilled, and unskilled worker in the garment industry should be paid ₹12758.05, ₹12490.92, and ₹12223.11 respectively in zone I. Bommanahalli comes under zone I but 90% of unorganized workers are getting below the minimum wages. The Factories (Karnataka Amendment) Act, 2023 states that an employee who works for more than 9 hours, 10 hours, or 11.5 hours in any day or for more than 48 hours in any week, working for six days, five days, or four days in any week respectively is entitled to an overtime benefit at the rate of twice of his/her ordinary rate of wages. But 100% of factories do not make such an exact overtime payment.
They have no job security as they often move in and throw out of employment. Various studies show that employment insecurities, casual works, and low wages are rapidly increasing in the advanced economies. In such a situation, such insecurities will be more in developing countries like India and the study revealed that the unorganized workers are experiencing such an insecurity. Availability of quality and productive jobs is essential for the growth of any country. It is also vital for poverty eradication. Poverty and job insecurity often leads to the issue of debt. As the debt increases, they become poorer. Only through timely and well-paid jobs, they can be ensured of a basic standard life. Some people see poverty as a self-inflicted condition and failure, which is to be ashamed of by those people. But the study revealed that the system is highly responsible for the poverty-trap. There are many enactments, schemes, and policies that are beneficial to the unorganized poor workers but the lack of proper implementation makes them poorer. Welfare policies should start with the working poor people, particularly who do not earn enough to save themselves and their families from the clutches of poverty and who do not get enough support from the public welfare system.
Conclusion and suggestions
Unorganized workers in a formal sector also come under the broad category of unorganized workers as per the provisions of the Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008. But in practice, they are neither organized nor unorganized workers. They are excluded from both these sectors. They are excluded from the official list of workers. They are people with ‘no identity.’ They experience poverty and social insecurity due to lack of proper and timely payment, social security support systems, and exploitation from the employers and moneylenders. There is no difference between the organized and unorganized workers in the formal garment industrial sector about the nature of work. But with regard to payment and other social security schemes they face severe discrimination. It all depends on the mercy of the employers. If the employer wishes then any person will be converted to an organized worker, provided with all benefits.
There should be regular and effective inspection in every premise of the company for ensuring the safety and security of the workers. The government should prioritize the welfare of people rather than supporting the profit-oriented tactics of the employers. Considering the workers, who are not coming under the Acts mentioned in the Schedule II of the Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Act, into the category of unorganized workers is not the solution for the complexities with regard to social insecurities. But they should be enlisted as organized workers, who can have all the benefits of the workers in a formal sector. It will give them assurance of minimum wages, job security, social security, maternity benefits and so on. The labour commissioners should make strong actions for such welfare-oriented programs. Majority of the workers have no written agreement with the employer and this leads to job insecurity. This is mainly because of failure in the system, which needs to corrected. Besides, corruption, bribery, and unnecessary involvement of the politicians in support of the employers also cause severe failures in the implementation process.
Priority should also be given to awareness programs for the workers. Most of them are less-educated and migrants and they believe that all these schemes are available only to the Karnataka people. They are not aware of the basic details of the government schemes. 100% of the workers said that they do not know the basic minimum salary of the garment sector as provided by the government. They also said that the government does not fix such things, it depends on the employer. The labour officers or CFs should visit the companies and give detailed awareness programs to the employees conscientizing their rights and privileges. Many of them think that it is the mercy of the employer, such a mentality should be transformed by giving a proper awareness of their rights.
With regard to Bangalore city area, the unorganized workers in the formal garment industrial sector constitute millions of people. The living expenses are high in Bangalore compared to other parts of Karnataka. Hence, a decent minimum wage should be paid to the workers. The Karnataka Garment policy speaks about creating more employment opportunities by giving the employers many subsidies. But utmost care also should be taken to assure that the employees are paid decently. The State government also should prioritize the social security schemes of the employees by ensuring proper inspection and other enforcement strategies. The lack of security to the poor workers shows the failure of the government. The State labour commission has to take the lead role in support of the employees for ensuring a welfare State.
References
Aman Borkar & Bino Paul, Employment in Organized & Unorganized Retail, 50 Indian Journal of Industrial Relations 517 (2015).
Bijoy Basant Patro (ed.), Promises & Reality (Civil Society Initiative 2021).
Dalia Ben-Galim & Tess Lanning, Strength Against Shocks: Low-Income Families and Debt (Institute for Public Policy Research 2010).
David Ellwood, Poor Support: Poverty in the American Family (Basic Books 1988).
David S. Byrne, Social Exclusion (Open University Press, 1999).
Department of Handlooms & Textiles, Govt. of Karnataka, Highlights on Garment and Textile Sector in Karnataka, https://karnatakadht.org/english/policies.php.
Dipu Rai, India’s Triumph over Poverty: A Decade of Transformation, India Today (June 19, 2024, 14:13 PM), https://www.indiatoday.in/diu/story/india-poverty-reduction-gdp-transformation-policy-measures-government-data-economists-2555188-2024-06-19.
Donald Hirsch, A Minimum Income Standard for the UK in 2011 (Joseph Rowntree Foundation 2011).
Government of Karnataka, New Textile and Garment Policy 2019-24, https://www.karnatakadht.org/pdf/order_new_textile_and_garment_policy_2019-24.pdf.
ILO Social Protection Department, India: Workers Facilitation Centres, ILO (August 2015), https://www.social-protection.org/gimi/Media.action?id=15494.
J. Dhesinghraja & M. Sendhilkumar, An Overview of Supply Chain Management on Apparel Order Process in Garment Industries, 4 Journal of Exclusive Management Science (2015).
J. Welshman, Supporting Poor Children in Working Families, in A Minority View: What Beatrice Webb Would Say Now (B. Knight ed., 2011).
Kofi Annan, The Role of Employment and Work in Poverty Eradication: The Empowerment and Advancement of Women, Report Of The Secretary-General, E/1999/13, https://www.un.org/esa/documents/ecosoc/docs/1999/e1999-53.htm.
Labour Commissioner Office, Govt. of Karnataka, Minimum Wages Rates for the Year 2024-25, https://karmikaspandana.karnataka.gov.in/storage/pdf-files/circulars/73GarmentsCostumesandTailoringEstablishments.pdf.
Manya Rathore, Unorganized Sector in India — Statistics & Facts, Statista (June 18, 2024), https://www.statista.com/topics/12207/unorganized-sector-in-india/#topFacts.
Mark B. Stewart, The Interrelated Dynamics of Unemployment and Low-Wage Employment, 22 Journal of Applied Econometrics 511(2007).
Ministry of Labour & Employment, New Measures to Protect Interests of Unorganized Labour (Mar. 09, 2024), https://labour.gov.in/sites/default/files/pib1986238.pdf.
N. M. P. Verma & I. C. Awasthi (eds.), Contractual Employment In Indian Labour Market (Concept Publishing Company 2010).
N. Nanjunda, The Plight of Garment Industry Workers in Bangalore City-India: What we know and What we don’t Know, 4 City University Research Journal (2014).
N. V. Loayza, The Economics of the Informal Sector: A Simple Model and Some Empirical Evidence from Latin America (The World Bank 1997).
National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector, Working Paper No. 2: Contribution of the Unorganized Sector to GDP Report of the Sub-Committee of a NCEUS Task Force 3 (2008)
OECD, Employment Outlook (OECD 2005).
P. Huston & M. Rowan, Qualitative Studies: Their Role in Medical Research, 44 Can Fam Physician 2453 (1998).
Polly Toynbee, Hard work: Life in Low-Pay Britain (Bloomsbury, 2003).
Prakash Yerragola, B. Charwak, & P. Vijaya Kumar, Textile Industry in New India: Challenges and Opportunities, 21 International Journal of Indian Culture and Business 435 (2020).
racy Shildrick, R. Macdonald, C. Webster, & K. Garthwaite, Poverty and Insecurity: Life in Low-Pay, No-Pay Britain (Policy Press 2012).
Ratri Parida, Rajat Katiyar, & Kirti Rajhans, Identification and Analysis of Critical Barrier for Achieving Sustainable Development in India, 18 Journal of Modelling in Management 727 (2023).
Robert Kappel & Esther K. Ishengoma, Formalisation of Informal Enterprises: Economic Growth and Poverty (Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development 2005).
S. V. Krishna Kishore, J. Banerjee, P. Kiran, & V. Moorthy, Investigating Factors in Quality of Work-life in Indian Garment Industry at Bangalore, 40 Thailand and the World Economy 109 (2022).
Sannihitha Ponaka, ESI Contribution Rate and Calculation 2024, SCRIPOBOX (Oct. 24, 2023), https://scripbox.com/saving-schemes/esi-calculation/.
Santhosh Mehrotra, Ankita Gandhi, Bimal Kishore Sahoo, & Partha Saha, Creating Employment in the Twelfth Five-Year Plan, 47 EPW 63 (2012).
Sarmishtha Sen, Relative Efficiency of Organized and Unorganized Segments of Indian Textile and Garments Industry: A Preliminary Exploration, 4 The Journal of Industrial Statistics 37 (2015).
Steven Tenny, Janelle M. Brannan, & Grace D. Brannan, Qualitative Study (Sept. 18, 2022), https://europepmc.org/article/NBK/nbk470395#free-full-text.
Supriya Roy Chowdhury, Labour Activism and Women in the Unorganized Sector: Garment Export Industry in Bangalore, 40 EPW 2250 (2005).
The Code on Wages, 2019 (India).
The Constitution of India, 1950.
The Employees’ Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 (India).
The Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948 (India).
The Factories (Karnataka Amendment) Act, 2023.
The Factories Act, 1948 (India).
The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 (India).
The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 (India).
The Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008 (India).
V. Beloor, C. J. Swamy, T. S. Nanjundeswaraswamy, D. R. Swamy, & P. Nagesh, A Study on Job Satisfaction and Employee Welfare in Garment Industries, 13 Indian Journal of Science and Technology 3445 (2020).
Vijay Joshy, India’s Long Road: The Search for Prosperity (Penguin, 2016).
World Bank, Ending Poverty and Ensuring Dignity for All, World Bank Group (Oct. 16, 2023), https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2023/10/16/end-poverty-and-ensure-dignity-for-all.