STRUCTURE OF WORK-FORCE

2.1 INTRODUCTION

Composition of the work force in an industry varies widely with the nature of its activity, geographical location, operations involved, level of technology available, social and economic conditions of the people and the Government policies, etc. Variations in these factors account for the change in the composition of the work force not only from one sector to another but also from region to region within the same sector. The legislative policies of the Government also influence the composition of working force.

2.2 DISTRIBUTION OF WORK-FORCE BY STATE AND SEX & AGE

The Stratum and sex-age-wise composition of work force has been presented in Table 2.1. As per the information collected under the survey, the total work force in the Textile Garments Industry has been estimated to be about 3.93 lakh. Amongst these, the highest employment was reported at 1.83 lakh in the State of Karnataka, followed by 0.76 lakh in Tamil Nadu, 0.35 lakh in Haryana, 0.29 lakh in Delhi, 0.28 lakh in Uttar Pradesh, 0.26 lakh in Residual Stratum and remaining 0.17 lakh in Maharashtra.

Out of 3.93 lakh workers employed in Textile Garments Industry, 40.74 per cent of the workers were men and the remaining 59.26 per cent were women. Adolescents and Child workers were not reported to be employed in the Textile Garments Industry.

While examining the sex & age-wise employment at Stratum level, it is observed that the share of men workers was more than 80 per cent of the total employment in Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra stratum where as women workers dominated in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu stratum. The highest percentage of women workers was reported at 84.42 per cent in Tamil Nadu followed by 78.64 per cent in Karnataka, whereas, the lowest percentage of women workers was reported at 4.54 per cent in Uttar Pradesh.

2.3 distribution of work-force by system of wage payment

The distribution of workers as per the system of wage payment is shown in Table 2.2. It is observed that 98.00 per cent of the workforce in Textile Garments Industry was employed according to the time-rate system of wage payment and the remaining 2.00 per cent of the workforce was employed on piece-rate basis.

2.4 DISTRIBUTION OF TIME-RATED WORKES BY SEX-AGE

Table 2.3 depicts the distribution of time-rated workers by sex-age. The table reveals that a majority of time-rated workers were men in all the strata except Tamil Nadu and Karnataka i.e. 95.27 per cent in Uttar Pradesh, 85.04 per cent in Haryana, 81.73 per cent in Maharashtra, 79.11 per cent in Delhi and 59.95 per cent in Residual stratum. The

proportion of time-rated women workers was reported at 84.98 per cent in Tamil Nadu and 78.64 per cent in Karnataka. At industry level, the proportion of time-rated women workers was higher i.e. 60.27 per cent compared to their men counterpart i.e. 39.73 per cent,

2.5 DISTRIBUTION OF PIECE-RATED WORKERS BY SEX-AGE

Table 2.4 presents the distribution of piece-rated workers by sex-age. The table shows that the piece-rated system was reported in all the strata except Haryana and Karnataka. All of the piece-rated workers were men in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, whereas 97.20 per cent, 87.14 per cent and 79.69 per cent of the piece-rated workers in Residual, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra stratum respectively were men.

2.6 PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF WORKERS IN MAJOR OCCUPATIONS

Information pertaining to occupations employing two or more per cent of the work force in Textile Garments Industry has been presented in Table 2.5. It is observed that in the Textile Garments Industry, out of 26 occupations, there were only 7 occupations, which employed 2 or more per cent of workers at industry level. The highest percentage of work force i.e. 32.27 per cent was employed in the occupation 'Tailor', followed by 24.69 per cent in 'Helper', 11.47 per cent in 'Tailor (Specialist)' The proportion of workers employed in the occupations of 'Checker', 'Supervisor', 'Ironer' and 'Packer' was 9.72 per cent, 3.35 per cent, 3.33 per cent and 2.84 per cent respectively. These seven occupations taken together accounted for about 88 per cent of the workforce in the industry.

2.7 TREND IN COMPOSITION OF WORK-FORCE BY SEX-AGE

The trend in composition of workforce by sex-age in the Textile Garments Industry during the last six rounds of Occupational Wage Survey, is presented in Table 2.6. The proportion of women workers in the Textile Garments Industry has increased from 12.60 per cent during the second round to 59.26 per cent in the sixth round. The proportion of men workers on the other hand has come down from 87.40 per cent in the second round to 40.74 per cent in the sixth round. It is also seen from the Table that now child workers are not being employed any more in the Textile Garments Industry. Further, the employment of the piece-rated workers has shown a decreasing trend from third round onwards.

2.8 PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF WORKERS BY OCCUPATION AND SEX-AGE

The percentage distribution of workers by occupation and sex is given in Table 2.7. It is observed that in the Textile Garments Industry, out of total 26 reported occupations, 1 occupation reportedly employed women workers. All of the workers in 'Marker' occupation were women. Other occupations employing size able proportion of women workers were 'Sorter' (84.54 per cent), 'Tailor (Specialist)' (70.82 per cent), 'Sweeper' (67.36 per cent), 'Tailor' (65.10 per cent), 'Helper' (65.04 per cent), 'Coolie/Mazdoor' (64.27 per cent), 'Checker' (55.89 per cent) and 'Button Fixing Machine Operator' (51.64 per cent). Similarly, all of the workers employed in 'Driver', 'Electrician', 'Mechanic (General)', 'Painter' and 'Store Keeper' occupations were men.

2.9 PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF WORKERS IN DIFFERENT OCUPATIONS BY THE SYSTEM OF WAGE PAYMENT

The percentage distribution of workers in different occupations by system of wage payment is shown in Table 2.8. It is observed that both time-rated and piece-rated workers were employed in seven occupations only out of 26 occupations reported in the Textile Garments Industry. However, vast majority of the workers were time-rated workers.