Decent Work and Social Justice for Informal Sector Workforce in South Asia

The increased economic integration during the last decades of the twentieth century coincided with rising income inequality in some countries and increasing unemployment among the low skilled mainly on European continent. Community based schemes are springing up everywhere in the developing world, most frequently in Africa and parts of Asia. 

The International labour Organization unanimously adopted the ILO Declaration of social Justice for a fair Globalization on 10^th June 2008. The declaration expresses the universally of the Decent work Agenda. All members of the organization must pursue policies based on the strategic objectives, employment, social protection ,social dialogue, and rights at work.

This paper examines the present position of the informal sector workers in South Asia. The study is based on information collected through secondary data.

   At present, Multinational Corporations have entered in the global market; therefore, the nature of capitalist production has been changing. It is effect of weakening social dialogue institutions in developed and developing countries.

In the era of globalization, right to life and livelihood has become the central issue not only for organized sector workers but unorganized workers also. South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an economic and political organization of South Asian countries, which includes India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan.

            Informal workers include all workers in the informal sector as well as in the formal sector performing informal jobs. Labour laws in the countries of the region are not universally applied and excluded several groups of workers or groups of establishments from their scope. It is generally the formal or organized sector that is covered by labour laws. As a result many labour laws apply only to a small proportion of the workforce.

            There is a need to implement the ILO Declaration of social justice for a fair globalization.