The government and the unorganized sector

The government can only bring regulation for sectors it exerts direct control on: these are mainly classified into two categories - economic and social, or hard and soft. The economic sectors include all those industries that directly contribute to the growth of the economy such as infrastructure, finance, agriculture, mining etc; whereas social sectors include areas that directly deal with people's lives such as water, health, environment, education, housing etc. While a major chunk of service providers to both these sectors come under the organised sector through consulting agencies, private sector, NGOs and other white-collared professions that support the executive, legislative and judiciary roles of the government, there is a robust unorganized sector which is the "critical backbone" of the organised sector. Percentage share of unorganized sector in service sector in terms of human capital far exceeds the number of people engaged by organised sector. This is what makes this unfettered sector a support system for the organised sector. Unorganized sector includes all kinds of labour in professions ranging from domestic help, gardener, fruit and vegetable seller, private driver, rickshaw puller, kiryana store seller, shoe-mender, carpenter, plumber, beautician, astrologer to ad-hoc staff hired by organisations and individuals primarily operating in or on behalf of the organised sector.

Despite plethora of unending professional support that comes from the unorganised sector, is it completely unregulated as only role of the government is to provide skills to train large population in a country like India for employment generation. This blog is to critique this 'limited role' to move to a more 'human capital' or 'human resource' oriented governance role.

The government in the past has focused towards more industry-oriented sectors that lead to direct economic growth, resulting in neglect of human capital. At a point at which there is unchecked migration to urban areas in search of lucrative options, there is a need of governance both on the demand and supply side.

On demand side

When the services of the unoganised sector personnel is availed, there is no formal agreement between the two parties as it is done on mutual trust. The only preventive regulation is 'police verification' in case of engaging someone for house-hold support activities. In many cases, employers have to face harassment from hiring someone with unprofessional attitude and behavior, which are issues that are not resolvable, in many instances causing disputes and in extreme but prevalent situations, crimes.

On supply side

Although there are many agencies that register staff for professional services, even in digital era, hiring is a challenge due to bottlenecks in value chain of these agents. For instance, domestic helpers are not registered on any portal, and same is the case with shoe-menders, gardeners and many other professionals. If there is a government mandate of compulsory registration based on Aadhar number or a similar ID, search and hiring would be streamlined. It would also monitor illegal migration for vote-bank politics in urban spaces, and streamline the problem of slums, unauthorized occupation and menace on public or private properties.

Concluding thoughts

The present government is based on the principle of 'minimum government, maximum governance', however, India still fairs poorly on the Human Development Index. An orientation towards its human capital by regulating the unorganised sector would not just improve accountability of the nation towards economic growth, but also strengthen last mile connection between human-human service delivery. With a system that has moved away from trust, small steps can foster this business relationship at the very basic level. The simplest definition of Democracy is governance by the people, for, and of the people. In this case, "for" is to protect the interests of the "demand side" and "of" to check the irregularities on the "supply side".              

India's Daughter - a personal account at Harvard with Leslee Udwin

Although wanting to reach at 3 PM for the documentary to be screened at 4 PM at Harvard Graduate School of Education, conscientiously and resource-tied for multiple submissions, I could leave only at 3.45 PM. It was like 'challenging' myself, to 1) brave going alone and 2) watching content that may leave me shaken up. Being sensitive, I've practiced refraining from watching disturbing content for many years now..

Entering the 'Askwith Hall', I observed many empty rows - it felt a bit chilling already. I picked the right back corner and sunk into the chair, wrapping into the jacked and ensuring there were people around for support, in case of any unexpected 'need'. Yes, literally! I saw people in two's mostly. The documentary started with a warning for anyone to walk out at any time. It began with the incident in Delhi on December 16, 2012. I remembered this was the time I used to work for the Planning Commission of India, and all political figures looked familiar. The story then transitioned towards the driver, accused Mukesh giving interview and his version and details of the incident and other culprits.

Throughout the documentary, Mukesh spoke without any resentment or guilt. The two lawyers, who were representing the criminals were also of the mindset that unmarried women should not be stepping out with a guy after a 'decent hour', dating is wrong and there are strong standards women are to abide by in order to be 'worshiped'. Both parents of Jyoti Singh, the young ambitious girl who met with the fateless incident maintain a calm disposition in the documentary like soldiers, bringing plenty of sorrow; when one hears the two sides, it becomes even more difficult to complain.

The culprits have a criminal background and come from extremely poor families where having one meal was a challenge. They had no interest in 'education', and societal norms like how women need to be treated was an unknown concept to them. The criminal physiologist in the film mentions how this act was a culmination of so many wrongs that went unnoticed, ignored or unpunished throughout the years, which in itself was a reflection of how societies function on a daily basis - with immense tolerance to bad behavior!

The statistics in the end are disheartening as they state rapes and crimes against women not only in India but all around the world: with global average of assault being as high as 1 in 5 women. There was dreadful silence in the hall as the documentary ends. The emcee wound herself on the stage slowly, still recovering as she asked very pertinent questions to Leslee, which were answered in great detail. I shall not be able to reveal everything on this blog since the movie was banned in India, and the reasons were shocking to know for the first time ever!

My takeaway was the appreciation for Leslee - on how she built the courage to make this spine-chilling documentary and stopped making films to solve the 'problem'. She cited 'how lack of education' was the main reason for this feeling of 'power' and 'control' men seek over women, which is irrespective of a man's social, economic, educational or marital status. She explained her findings of how a "mindset" at 6 years of age continued till one is 60; and why right education in the formative years must focus on empathy, human values and developing social skills. The last question of the evening was by an Indian man, who spent 3 years in the US - he confessed he still did not understand 'consent'. To this Leslee replied that just asking this question was a good start, of some morals and perhaps good upbringing! As an Indian, I wished many of my Indian colleagues, past dates and friends did this loving, harmless, retrospective and mindful soul-searching with a positive and action-oriented intent.

As I booked my cab, I walked out towards the exit, following an elderly gentleman with a walking stick. As he saw me rushing, he opened the door and said 'First you miss'. I could not hold back my tears anymore. As my cab arrived - the driver greeted me with - How are you doing today? I nodded 'Okay', and was dropped by the driver at the destination, ensuring it was the 'exact' spot in the dark lonely lane. I know the driver was raised well too :)