Employment Pattern in the Unorganised Manufacturing Sector in Assam

This paper examines the employment situation in the unorganised manufacturing sector in Assam. The findings suggest that though the unorganised sector has got immense employment potential, the role of the sector in generating productive employment opportunities in the State is doubtful. The sector has suffered sharp decline in employment during 1994-95 to 2000-01, especially full-time workers in the OAMEs segment. Though the period 2000-01 to 2005-06 witnessed significant employment generation in the sector, a large proportion of these new jobs were parttime workers, again in the OAMEs segment. Additionally, the share of female workers increased in both the part-time and full-time workers category. Thus, the recent growth in unorganised sector employment in the State has taken place largely through casualisation and feminisation of workers, which is not an encouraging trend as this implies decline in the quality of employment in the sector. Adding to this, the sector continues to suffer abysmally low level of productivity, leading to poor performance of the sector. Therefore, the paper emphasises on reformulating the existing industrialisation strategy in the State and calls for special policy attention towards productivity growth, modernisation and technology upgradation of the sector.