Analysis of Casual Labour in Rajasthan vis-à-vis India

Abstract

Casual labour includes the labour of workers whose normal employment consists of a series of short-term jobs. Casual labour is mainly hired by the hour or day or for the performance of specific tasks. This paper present the comparative analysis of labour ratio and casual labour using secondary data for various NSSO surveys and Periodic Labour Force Survey reports issued by the Government of India. Findings of this study showed that unemployment rate in the rural sector was lower than urban sector for all the gender categories and the low value of LFPR and WPR in both Rajasthan and India which is a concern for the overall development of the economy. The proportion of casual labour was higher in the rural area than an urban area in both national and state-level, which indicates the low level of social security in the rural sector. Rajasthan has higher female earnings than the national level in all four seasons of work. Results also showed that in season April-June, the earnings of the casual labours are higher in all categories due to higher availability of work in that season. Due to excessive rains, the earnings in July- September season was less compare to other seasons. Results of this study showed that average earnings in the rural sector in public works like MGNREGA and others are higher in national level compared to Rajasthan. Average hour work in a week for casual labour in all four seasons was higher in Rajasthan than the national level, which shows labour intensive work condition in the state.