Women in Unorganised Sector: Quest for Social Justice

Contents:  Preface. 1. Human rights perspective and the women workers in unorganized sector/Ahmedullah Khan. 2. Human rights of women workers in unorganised sector/Justice R. Ramaswamy. 3. National policy for Women\'s empowerment: objectives and approach/Susheela Kaushik. 4. Gender equality--constitutional guarantee in India: a critical appraisal/K. Uma Devi. 5. Informal sector and social development in the context of globalisation/K. Uma Devi. 6. Invisible women of unorganized sector--a human right perspective/Profulla C. Mishra. 7. Social protection for women workers in the informal sector--a human rights perspective/K. Murugaiah. 8. Women\'s economic empowerment and entrepreneurship : mass media policy interventions/Kiran Prasad. 9. Environmental human rights and women an outlook/T. Sita Kumari. 10. Human rights and duties education: with special reference to women in unorganised sector of employment--a critical appraisal of existing scenario in India/Gursharan Varandani. 11. Socio-economic status of women workers in unorganised sector/Krushna Chandra Jena. 12. Women\'s human right: problems and challenges faced by Indian women/J. Akbar Khan. 13. Role of judiciary in expousing the cause of women workers in unorganised sector/C. Paranthaman. 14. Women in modern Indian and human rights/K. Arunachalam. 15. Rights of women workers in unorganised sector and the role of civil society--human rights perspective/J. Krishna Kumari. 16. Informal sector and women workers: only sympathy but no legal remedy/A. Rajendra Prasad. 17. Unorganised women workers: a study in the human right perspective/Bharat B. Das. 18. Unorganised sector and violation of rural women workers rights/Subramanyam. 19. Socio-economic status of women workers in unorganized sector: a case study of female agricultural labourers of Chandamama Palli, S.T. Colony of Tirupati rural Mandal A human rights perspective/K. Sreenivasa Rao and K. Subramanyam. 20. Socio-economic status of women workers in unorganised sector/G. Vinod Kumar. 21. The socio-economic status of women workers in unorganised sector : a human rights perspective/M. Sammaiah and K. Madhavi. 22. Unorganized workers social security act a boon or bane/G. Indira Priyadarsini, V. Sowbhagya Rani and K. Uma Devi. Index.

"Women\'s contribution to the economy by and large remains unrecognised. Yet, their services are valuable. Women are working in the unorganised sector which does not offer fair wages and decent terms of work. Nor is there any opportunity to improve their earning potential. There are no supportive services like crèches, fuel and water. Sexual harassment is very acute in this sector. Contractors exploit young girls and women and in many a situation are forced to succumb to their lust. In the sphere of farm family labour, women\'s contribution is immense, but no effort has been made to estimate this. Although Indian Constitution guarantees democracy and confers the right  to equality to all strata, the reality is that this guarantee of right to equality has not reached many lower sections of society. It is these people who struggle, are impoverished, alienated and concerned with basics for survival. The case of domestic workers is evidence to the fact that despite the guaranteed constitutional rights, their struggle for equality and survival continues. It is disheartening to note that domestic workers, as part of unorganised work force, remain the most exploited even after six decades of Independence. Many migrant domestic workers in cities live in on pavements or on slums and serve others in houses. A woman domestic worker has to sweep swab, wash utensils and clothes in every house twice a day, morning and evening. But still they continue to work in adverse conditions. For instance, workers engaged in cleaning sewage may be killed by the noxious fumes that are often accumulated in the drain. This happens when the workers are not equipped with protective overalls or masks or when the mandatory tests to ascertain the level of toxic gases in the drain are not conducted. So, it is very necessary that social security should be given  to the women workers who are working in unorganized sectors.

The book will provide in insight into the problems of unorganised women workers with human rights perception. The book consists of 21 articles of eminent professors of law, judges, women leaders, women activists, social workers and other faculty from various disciplines. The book provides articles like \'Human rights perspective and the women workers in unorganised sector\'. Gender equality constitutional guarantee in India--a critical appraisal\', \'unorganised sector and violation of rural women workers rights\', socio-economic status of women workers in unorganised sector, etc. The book also has an insight into the recent unorganised social security act 2008. This book is useful for the academicians, research scholars and also for students who study labour laws because is no specific book on unorganised workers." (jacket)