Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2003, published 92nd ILC session (2004)

The Committee notes the information contained in the Government’s report.

1. In its previous observation, the Committee noted that the Government’s report contained virtually no reply to the comments made by the National Front of Indian Trade Unions (NFITU) alleging that the principle of equal remuneration between men and women workers for work of equal value was not respected in the informal economy and the unorganized sector. It also noted the comments from the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) that, in spite of the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976, wage gaps between men and women persist across all sectors. The ICFTU also maintained that the policies and programmes adopted to promote empowerment of women, included in the Ninth Plan, were superficial and that further action was necessary, especially in the traditional sectors. In this regard, the Committee asked the Government to report on the implementation of the policies under the Ninth Plan to reduce the wage disparity between men and women.

2. With regard to the allegations made by the NFITU, the Committee notes that the Government’s report once again does not reply to this matter. The Committee notes, nevertheless, that the Ninth Plan (1997-2002) draws attention to the high representation of women in the unorganized sector "where there are no legislative safeguards even to claim either minimum or equal wages along with their male counterparts". The Plan, therefore, states that special efforts will be made to ensure that the laws relating to both the minimum wage and equal pay shall be strictly implemented in this sector. The Committee also notes from the detailed statistical information provided by the Government that the earnings gap is significantly larger between illiterate men and women in both rural (women’s daily earnings amount to 56.6 per cent of men’s) and urban areas (women’s daily earnings amount to 59.1 per cent of men’s) and as compared to men and women in the literate up to graduate categories. The Committee asks the Government to indicate in its next report the strategy developed for implementing minimum wages and equal pay laws in the informal economy in a meaningful way and to report on any results this has achieved in reducing the pay gap between men and women. Please also indicate the collaboration of workers’ and employers’ organizations in this initiative.

3. With regard to the comments made by ICFTU, the Committee notes the Government’s statement that there are no major violations of the provisions of the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976. While the Government acknowledges that, according to the 4th Round Occupational Wage Survey, differences in wage rates exist in certain industries between men and women; it also maintains that these cannot all be considered as violations of the Act, since wage differences in an occupation at unit level could be due to differences in qualification, experience, length of service, employment status, or difference in output. While noting the Government’s explanations, the Committee nevertheless recalls that while the explanation provided by the Government may explain the wage differential in part, it would not explain all of that differential. Wage classification structures which are not based on objective job evaluations may also play a part. Moreover, such factors as employment status and experience, which appear to be neutral factors, may in practice be applied differently as between men and women. The low status of women due to stereotypical attitudes towards the roles of men and women and the unequal treatment of women in general as regards their access to vocational and employment opportunities is one of the root causes of inequalities in remuneration and of the undervaluation of the work women do. While noting the policies for the empowerment of women included in the Ninth Plan (1997-2002), the Committee understands that measures to achieve de facto equality of women through their social and economic empowerment have been brought together under a National Policy for the Empowerment of Women (2001). Noting that the policy objectives include equal access for women to quality education and vocational guidance, employment and remuneration, the Committee asks the Government to provide full information in its next report on the measures taken or envisaged to implement these objectives, with a view to reducing wage disparities between men and women in the various sectors of the economy and to report on the results achieved thereof. Underlying the importance to the application of the Convention, which the Committee places on enforcement of the legislation, the Committee asks the Government to supply information on the enforcement of the Equal Remuneration Act by the labour inspectorate and the judiciary.

The Committee is addressing a request directly to the Government in respect of other matters.