Consultative Workshop on ‘Mapping of Decent Work Deficit in Automobile Sector in Pune

The informal sector is a regular, dynamic and dominant feature of the Indian economy and over the years it has made hefty inroads into the formal sector as well. There is a growing interdependency which is seen between the formal and informal sector and which carries implications for the world of work as well. It is in this context that the study has tried to analyze the nature of Decent Work (DW) deficits in the value chain of the automobile industry in Pune.

The study looks into categorizing the value chain of the industry into three different tiers- tier I, II and III. The value chain of the industry had a mix of both formal as well as informal workers. These three different tiers presented different dimensions with regard to the Decent work indicators. Tier I enterprises which maintain close proximity with the assemblers/OEMs stand at an advantageous position as compared to enterprises belonging to other tiers and which also has a direct bearing on the work that is being carried out in these different enterprises. Several other issues related to wages, social security benefits, unionization, wage parity, casualization of work etc. have been assessed. However, given all these different parameters it is nevertheless important to focus our attention in maintaining a minimum standard of work in this high growth industry.

The objective of the consultative workshop is to deliberate upon the findings from the study through tripartite discussions, focusing on decent work deficits as existing at various nodes of the automobile value chain. This will enable targeted policy prescriptions to address the deficits, in a manner that fits the geographical and socio-economic context of the cluster.