: Problems related to Infrastructure

Problems related to Social Environment-

Uttarakhand stands out as one of the few states in India where an overwhelming number of women have always been a part of active workforce. But this participation is only limited to agriculture, forest production, cattle care and dairying. The women of state need to have more avenues for income generation. Entrepreneurship among women has come a long way in the state. However the proportion of women entrepreneurs according to fourth census in MSMEs reveals abysmally low at 10% (2,434 out of 23,767 registered MSMEs).

Besides this child labour is also practicing in MSMEs engaging children on part time/ full time basis. Child labour exists both in the organized and unorganized sector. In the latter the child works as the domestic helper, at roadside stalls. In the organized sector the children are found working in factories and hazardous industries in deplorable working conditions. They are forced to work for more hours at a meager pay. They are also exposed to numerous other hazards at work. The Census 2001 estimated the total number of child labour, aged 5–14, to be at 12.6 million out of which about 0.12 million were in a hazardous job. Out of these children majority (70%) is in agriculture and the rest in low-skilled labour-intensive sectors (picking rags, making bricks, polishing gemstones, rolling beedi cigarettes, packaging firecrackers, working as domestics, and weaving silk saris and carpets etc.) which require neither formal education nor training.

Despite of this Uttarakhand state is still untouched from the problem of child labour. Child labour is considered to be almost negligible in the region. The state was having 70183 child labourers in 2001 constituting 3.24% to the work participation whereas this rate was 5% in the country. In 2004-05, about 80.73% children were engaged in agriculture whereas rest 19.27% were engaged in non-farm activities (5.24% in construction, 4.72% in manufacturing, 9.31% in trade and hotels) in the state as compared to 68.14% children engaged in agriculture and 31.86% in non-farm activities (0.25% in mining, 16.55% in manufacturing, 0.02% in electricity, 1.95% in construction, 8.45% in trade and hotel, 0.66% in transport, 0.57% in finance, 3.41% in community and social services) in India.

Another problem associated with rural industries is bonded labour. Labour in India has always been cheap and as the older system of feudalism hierarchy still prevails with the new system in society where the deprived and economically insufficient become bonded to the land/ task assigned by the landlords/ sahukars for a meager of loan. The interest rates being very high the former are unable to repay, leading to the bondedness for generations. They generally work in small establishments at the creditors’ home and thus also come under the preview of labourers working in SSIs from home. Major bonded laborers are found in agriculture, stone quarries, brick kilns, religious and temple workmen, pottery, rural weaving, fishing, forestry, betel and bidi workers, carpet, illegal mining and fireworks. Official Indian government estimates claim a few hundred thousand bonded laborers; while estimates by activists and social organizations range between 2.6 to 5 million. According to the National Human Rights Commission Report of 2002-03 the prevalence of bonded labour in the Uttarakhand is as low as 6 reported cases.

Besides this the MSMEs are suffering from the poor quality of manpower (especially high levels of illiteracy) which is hampering their growth. The role of education cannot be denied where primary education enhances the productivity of the workforce and makes it easier to master skills provided through on-the-job training, secondary education on the other hand stimulates entrepreneurial capacity. Apart from having a positive correlation with wages, a minimum basic standard of education is necessary to apply for credit, to be aware of one’s rights and responsibilities and to deal with instances of corruption and malpractice. In India, an entrepreneur with an elementary education can expect to earn an income 41% higher than one with no education at all. But unfortunately the status of rural education is not satisfactory in India as against 74% of total literacy rate, rural India only has 69% literacy (79% in males and 59% in females). However this situation is much better in Uttarakhand especially in rural females. The state has a total literacy rate of 80% and 77% in rural areas (87.63% in males; 66.79% in females). Nainital district has the greatest rural literacy rate of 84% (Census 2011).

Another concern about MSMEs is Occupational health and Safety Hazards especially in mining, factories, ports, and construction. Construction is considered as one of the highly hazardous industries and the rate of fatal accidents is 4 to 5 times that in the factories sector. The major occupational diseases in India are silicosis, musculoskeletal injuries, coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, pesticide poisoning, chronic obstructive lung diseases, asbestosis, byssinosis, and noise-induced hearing loss. The increasing working rural female population leads to certain another concern of adverse effects on reproductive health etc. Neither the tasks nor the equipment these female workers use are adapted to their physique. In addition, female workers have specific stress related disorders, resulting from job discrimination (such as lower salaries and less decision-making powers), and a double burden of work (at workplace and home).

According to “Report of the Working Group on Occupational Safety and Health for the 12^th Five Year Plan” in industries, there has been a sharp decrease of 94% in the yearly average figure of 333883 injuries from 19912 injuries in 1980-2006. But for the same period the fatalities have increased 38% in the yearly average figure of 1068 fatalities from 774 fatalities. Uttarakhand is also facing this problem. According to a report the state was having 69 mines (excluding coal mines) as on 31.03.2009 covering an area of 3078 Hectare. The workforce working in these mines are occupationally exposed to free silica dust and are at potential risk of developing silicosis.