Employment and Labour Market in North-East India: Interrogating Structural Changes

423 Pages·2018·5.259 MB·English

by  Virginius Xaxa, Debdulal Saha, Rajdeep Singha

Employment and Labour
Market in North-East India
This book examines the structural changes in the labour market in North-
East India. Going beyond the conventional study of tea and agricultural
sectors, it focuses on the nature, pattern and structure of work and
employment in the region as well as documents emerging shifts in the labour
force towards farm to non-farm dynamics. The chapters explore historical
developments in employment patterns, labour market policies, issues of
gender and social-religious dimensions, as well as point to growing forms
of casual, informal and contractual labour across sectors.
Through large-scale data and detailed case studies on unfree labour in
plantations and those employed in crafts, handloom and the manufacturing
industry, the book provides insights into labour and employment in the
region. It also delves into the temporal and spatial dimensions of non-farm
employment and its relationship with rural income distribution and labour
mobility. By bringing interdisciplinary perspectives from scholars working
on North-East India, this work fills a major gap in the political economy of
the labour market in the region.
The volume will be useful to scholars and researchers of development
studies, North-East India studies, labour studies, economics, sociology
and political science as well to those involved with governance and
policymaking.
Virginius Xaxa is Professor of Eminence and Bharat Ratna Lokapriya
Gopinath Bordoloi Chair at Tezpur University, Assam, India.
Debdulal Saha is Assistant Professor at the Centre for Labour Studies and
Social Protection, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Guwahati Off Campus,
Assam, India.
Rajdeep Singha is Assistant Professor and Chairperson at the Centre for
Labour Studies and Social Protection, Tata Institute of Social Sciences,
Guwahati Off Campus, Assam, India.

Employment and Labour
Market in North-East
India
Interrogating Structural Changes
Edited by Virginius Xaxa,
Debdulal Saha and
Rajdeep Singha
First published 2019
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2019 selection and editorial matter, Virginius Xaxa, Debdulal
Saha and Rajdeep Singha; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Virginius Xaxa, Debdulal Saha and Rajdeep Singha
to be identified as the author of the editorial material, and of
the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in
accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
The international boundaries, coastlines, denominations, and other
information shown in any map in this work do not necessarily
imply any judgement concerning the legal status of any territory
or the endorsement or acceptance of such information. For
current boundaries, readers may refer to the Survey of India maps.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
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or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-1-138-55037-7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-44702-0 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Dedicated to late Professor Sharit K. Bhowmik

Contents
List of figures x
List of tables xii
Contributors xx
Preface xxiv
List of abbreviations xxvii
Introduction 1
DEBDULAL SAHA, VIRGINIUS XAXA AND RAJDEEP SINGHA
PART I
Structure and patterns of employment
in North-East India 17
1 Labour and the labour market in North-East India:
a historical exploration 19
VIRGINIUS XAXA
2 Changing trajectories of economic growth and
employment in North-East India: an empirical
assessment 39
ANJAN CHAKRABARTI
3 Structure and quality of employment in North-East
India: a socio-religious analysis 73
AJAYA KUMAR NAIK AND NITIN TAGADE
viii Contents
4 Women’s employment in North-East India: trends
and patterns 102
BORNALI BORAH
PART II
Work, employment and labour in industries 149
5 Beyond standard outcomes: the state of
employment and labour in the tea industry
of Assam 151
DEBDULAL SAHA, RAJDEEP SINGHA AND
PADMINI SHARMA
6 Work, control and mobility in the manufacturing
industry: a study of the cement industry in Assam 175
PIYALI BHOWMICK
7 Fostering employment in the handloom sector
in the North-East through cluster development:
a case study of Mizoram 193
RAMA RAMSWAMY
8 From craft to industry: understanding the
dynamics of handloom weaving in Manipur 224
OTOJIT KSHETRIMAYUM
PART III
Migration and labour mobility 261
9 Employment potential of migrant workers
in Meghalaya: an empirical exploration 263
JAJATI KESHARI PARIDA
10 Out-migration and labour mobility: case studies
from Assam 284
SNEHASHISH MITRA
Contents ix
PART IV
Employment diversification 317
11 Rural non-farm employment in North-East India:
a temporal and spatial analysis 319
BHAGIRATHI PANDA
12 Trends, composition and determinants of rural
non-farm employment in Assam and its implication
for rural income distribution 345
ANAMIKA DAS
13 Employment diversification in Tripura 369
RAJDEEP SINGHA
Index 390