Work and Workers in India: Moving towards Inclusive and Sustainable Development

High economic growth has not led India to an egalitarian economy. In fact, despite achieving high growth under the neo-liberal policy framework, India is suffering from unprecedented inequalities of wealth and incomes (Oxfam 2021, 2023), persistent unemployment and jobless growth, severe deficiencies in education as well as in nutrition and health, and well-being, and ecological damages. These problems have been discussed by many experts and policy makers in India. However, the same growth process has impacted on the new categories of work and workers also as defined by ILO in its ground-breaking Resolution onStatistics of Work, Employment and Labour Underutilization (ILO 2013) and their time use patterns. Our careful study of the time use patterns has revealed new concerns, which have impacted adversely on the health of the mainstream economy in multiple ways. These concerns are neglected if not excluded in the mainstream discussions today. This paper attempts to study these concerns and their implications for the Indian economy. It, then, explores pathways to inclusive and sustainable development in India.