Home-based work in contemporary India is a part of a large and heterogeneous informal sector. Home-based workers (HBWs) are those who work in their homes or any place of their choice, other than the workplace of the employers, making products for remuneration, as per the required specifications. HBWs are either self-employed or piece-rate workers. A growing number of piece-rate workers are now making products for sub-contracted workers. Unni J. (`Globalisation and Securing Rights for Women Informal Workers in Asia`, Journal of Human Development, November 2004) calls this group `dependent producers` since they depend on the intermediaries for the `supply of work, raw materials or the sale of finished products`. 

There are approximately 30 million HBWs in India and their number is constantly increasing (Mehrotra S. and Biggeri, M., Social Protection in the Informal Economy: Home Based Women Workers and Outsourced Manufacturing in Asia, UNICEF 2002). They make agarbattis, beedis, electronic items, boxes, kundan jewellery, footballs, embroidered dresses, kites, crackers, footwear, bags, decorations and many other products.  They live in different states and speak different languages.  However, what unites them is that they are usually the poorest of the poor, earn meagre wages, have access to no social security and are usually not counted in the national accounting system as workers.

Another unifying feature is that a majority of HBWs, especially those at the end of the global value chain of production, are women. Labour regimes are gendered and affect the place of work and the position of workers. Women find themselves taking up this work increasingly because they can easily combine it with their domestic responsibilities, while adhering to society`s restrictions on women`s mobility. Further, these jobs find women as they are willing to do more for less in terms of wages, social security benefits and recognition. The fact that these workers operate from within their homes makes it very difficult to organise them.   

The organisation of the informal sector workers is the first step to securing socio-economic security. The SEWA and Kerala models amply demonstrates that informal sector workers can be organised, and once organised they are able to make the institutions respond to their needs. 

National Organisation

SEWA stands for Self Employed Women`s Association and is, as the name suggests, an association of self-employed poor women. It pioneered the organisation of the poor, home-based, women workers into a membership-based organisation. Self-employed women contribute a small sum to be a member of the trade union and they form a substantial part of the management of the Association at all levels.  At present, SEWA has approximately 8 lakh members across eight states of India. SEWA and its members have been able to advocate for their rights effectively, resulting in the formation of a tripartite welfare board in some cases and a rise in wages in other cases. In the Kerala model, welfare funds for informal sector workers are institutionalised in the states as a result of collective action by the workers. The funds provide minimum social security to the workers.

The SEWA and Kerala models are best practices in their own right, but they do have their limitations. The SEWA model suffers from the limitations of NGOs or Member Based Organisations in influencing covariant risks and initiating structural reforms. The various schemes of SEWA have benefited SEWA members only. Moreover, all the members are not receiving benefits in the four fields of social security. They receive one or more of the following benefits: income, health, childcare, housing and micro insurance. This must, however, be seen in the context of the general scenario in the country wherein the bargaining position of conventional trade unions working with organised workers is being questioned. 

The Kerala model of welfare funds was novel. (Kannan K.P., `The Welfare Fund Model of Social Security for Informal Sector Workers: The Kerala Experience`, Centre for Development Studies Kerala, Working Paper 332 , 2002)  It allowed space for workers in formal and informal enterprises to collectivise against the bourgeois.  It also enables trade-wise organisations to bargain for higher wages (above the minimum wages) and other benefits through the welfare funds. However, most of the welfare funds are in financial crises. In certain cases, the employers refuse to contribute, but in most cases, the contribution affordable by the workers was so little that it was unattractive to the workers. In other cases, the administrative costs of running this programme was more than the funds administered.  Of late, scholars have been recommending a unified welfare fund to minimise welfare costs. 

In my view, for any meaningful change to happen, redistribution of wealth is a precondition. In sum, the social democratic model advocates that welfare is a right, and welfare rights should be universal, substantial, equal and redistributive. This model can lead to sustainable development for all.    

Regional Organisation

The United Nations Development Fund for Women in India (UNIFEM) and SEWA committed to bring together the organisations working with HBWs in 2000. Today, Homenet South Asia, a network organisation of women home-based workers promoted by UNIFEM and SEWA, is an autonomous entity and has 600 members and 300,000 HBWs from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The national networks in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan have already been registered and have a democratic constitution governing them.   

One of the challenges in the formation of a regional network was the recognition that the different countries are at different levels in terms of their work on HBWs. These countries charted their own unique ways of organising their networks. Homenet India started with mapping the organisations working with HBWs. In most cases, these organisations were personally visited by their coordinator to ascertain that they are genuinely working for HBWs. Thereafter, they were offered membership in the network. Homenet Nepal is another good model of organisation. At the micro level, Sectoral Network Committees (SNCs) were formed on the basis of the trade followed by HBWs. A minimum of ten members are required to form a sectoral committee. The Presidents of SNCs converged at the district level to form the District Networking Committee (DNC). Similarly Presidents of all DNCs comprise the National Networking Committee. The main function of the trade-based collectives is to raise HBWs` consciousness and enhance their skills. There is merit in keeping dual membership, that is, membership in trade associations and membership in umbrella home-based workers` associations because certain issues are trade specific while others are applicable to all HBWs. The members of the network collect a registration fee and annual membership fee to ensure that the network is sustainable and autonomous.   

Homenet South Asia (HNSA) was launched at the Regional Policy Conference on Women, Work and Poverty, co-hosted by UNIFEM and SEWA in January 2007. The conference was inaugurated by the Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh; HNSA was formally launched at the concluding session by the Cabinet Secretary of India, Mr. B.K. Chaturvedi.  The conference was graced by ministerial and Secretary-level delegates, academicians, researchers, activists, unionists and entrepreneurs from across South Asia. In addition, there were experts from the Philippines, Geneva and the U.K., and over 250 HBWs  from all over India. The Policy Conference not only increased the public`s and the government`s awareness on the HBWs rights but also resulted in the adoption of a Regional Plan of Action to take forward the agenda of enabling HBWs in the region to claim their rights to minimum wages and social security and for more avenues to sell their products. Moreover, it gave HNSA recognition and visibility at the national, regional and international levels.

The effectiveness of the organisation of the network at the national and regional levels is evident because HBWs have been recognised and their priorities are being discussed. The national networks in the five South Asian countries have been advocating for the ratification of the ILO Convention 177 on HBWs and the passage of a national policy for HBWs. The draft of a national policy has been submitted to the concerned line ministries in Bangladesh, India and Nepal. Efforts are underway to draft the national policy of HBWs in Pakistan by members of Homenet Pakistan for the consideration of the government of Pakistan. Similarly, India has also been taking forward its commitment of promoting the rights of HBWs. The Prime Minister of India took up the issue at the SAARC Summit in April 2007. As a result of this, the Government of India (GoI) has agreed to host a SAARC meeting on HBWs.  Furthermore, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, with UNIFEM and some other stakeholders, has set up an independent group to give concrete recommendations to ensure that the national statistical system is able to collect data on HBWs. 

The challenge now is ensure that Homenet South Asia builds on the momentum generated and intensifies its efforts to advocate the ratification of ILC 177, national policies for HBWs, recognition as workers in the national statistical systems, promotion of the products of HBWs and a SAARC Convention for HBWs.