COVID-19 pandemic has caused enormous devastation to normal lives of people and economy, affecting everyone but as always it’s the poor who are hit first and worst. Moreover, in poor and developing countries where the majority of the population is engaged in the informal and unorganized sector, these economically vulnerable people are daily wage earners who already have limited access to basic healthcare, sanitation and education facilities. The pandemic has further exacerbated the condition. Thus, it becomes the responsibility of the government to avail adequate means so as to allow these to carry out their right to livelihood and provide social security in a welfare state.
According to National Commission for Enterprises in Unorganized Sector (NCEUS), the unorganized sector 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) including the informal workers in the formal sector. The present ILO definition also focuses on the nature of employment in addition to the characteristics of enterprises and its size. It sub-divides informal employment into self-employment (own-account workers and cooperatives) and wage employment (day labourers, part-time unregistered industrial out-workers).
