Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - India (Ratification: 1960)

Other comments on C111

Observation

Direct Request

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Articles 1–3 of the Convention. Measures to address discrimination based on social origin. The Committee recalls that discrimination in employment and occupation due to real or perceived belonging to a certain caste is unacceptable under the Convention, and that continuing measures are required to end any such discrimination. The Committee notes the information on the schemes and programmes aimed at the educational, economic and social empowerment of the scheduled castes, including education grants, subsidies and loans. It notes the Government’s indication that, under the 12th Five-Year Plan, education will continue to be the most important means to uplift the status of the scheduled castes and to maximize their participation in economic opportunities. Measures include scholarships, increasing hostel facilities and ensuring that scheduled castes are able to secure the full quota and enter the merit quota in higher education. The pre-matric scholarship scheme will also be extended to all scheduled caste students from Class I to X and special attention will be given to quality education through incentives. The Committee notes, however, that the information provided by the Government on measures taken to promote and ensure equal treatment and opportunities irrespective of social origin, including caste, is of a very general nature and that it mainly refers to elements of national law and practice which the Committee noted previously. The Committee regrets the continuing lack of information, including statistics, in the Government’s report on: the representation of scheduled castes in central government services beyond 2008; the concrete achievements of the reservation system in state government employment; the implications of denying quota rights regarding jobs in government and educational institutions to Christian and Muslim Dalit; and on awareness-raising campaigns on the prohibition and unacceptability of caste-based discrimination in employment and occupation. It recalls that the 11th Five-Year Plan had drawn attention to the need for new measures to address persisting exclusion and discrimination of the scheduled castes in employment and occupation. The Committee urges the Government to seek and provide comprehensive and up-to-date information on the concrete results achieved by the various existing schemes and programmes with respect to improving the employment situation and educational opportunities of persons belonging to the scheduled castes, including through the reservation system for the public service at the central and state levels. It further requests the Government to provide information on the adoption and implementation of any new measures, including any affirmative action measures, particularly for the private sector, to address exclusion and discrimination based on social origin in an effective manner. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary steps to seek and provide detailed information on the implications of denying quota rights to Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians under the reservation system, and on specific measures taken to intensify awareness-raising campaigns on the prohibition and unacceptability of caste-based discrimination in employment and occupation, including on steps taken to seek the cooperation of the workers’ and employers’ organizations in this regard.

Manual scavengers. In its previous observation, the Committee requested the Government to take vigorous and comprehensive measures to combat caste-based discrimination and end the continuing degrading and inhumane practice of manual scavenging in which Dalit, and very often Dalit women, are engaged due to their social origin, in contravention of the Convention. The Committee recalls that the National Advisory Council in a resolution of 23 October 2010 had made a number of proposals to address the persistent practice of manual scavenging in the country, including the following: (a) the amendment of the legislation so as to improve the definition of manual scavenging and ensure accountability of public officials; (b) a nationwide survey in every state and union territory to collect accurate data on remaining dry latrines and manual scavengers; (c) improved access requirements to rehabilitation schemes of manual scavengers, especially women and their families; and (d) a specific education programme for children of families presently or previously engaged in manual scavenging.

The Committee welcomes the adoption of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act No. 25 of 18 September 2013 which prohibits any person, local authority or agency from constructing insanitary latrines, or engaging or employing a manual scavenger, or for manual cleaning of sewers and septic tanks without protective equipment (sections 5 and 6), and imposes penalties, including imprisonment, for non-compliance (sections 8 and 9). The Act also provides for the identification of manual scavengers in urban and rural areas through surveys by municipalities and Panchayats, or self-identification by manual scavengers (sections 11, 12(1), 14 and 15(1)), and their rehabilitation (sections 13 and 16). Monitoring and vigilance committees are to be set up at district, state and central levels (sections 24(1), 26(1) and 29(1)) and the Central Government shall, by notification, publish model rules for the use and guidance of state governments on the implementation of the provisions of the Act (section 37(1)(a)). The Committee further notes that the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is coordinating a Survey on Manual Scavengers in Statutory Towns in light of data available in Census 2011 and the Social-economic and Caste Census (Rural) covering 3,546 statutory towns in 34 states and union territories. The Committee requests the Government to take steps to collect comprehensive information on the practical application of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act No. 25 of 2013, including on the activities of the district and state and central level vigilance and monitoring committees, district magistrates and inspectors to monitor its implementation, and on the number and nature of offences registered, investigations and prosecutions instigated and penalties imposed on private persons and public authorities and to provide this information with its next report. Please also provide copies of any model rules published by the Central Government on the implementation of the Act. The Committee further requests the Government to provide the results of the Survey on Manual Scavengers in Statutory Towns, which was to be completed in 2013, and detailed information, disaggregated by sex, on the number of persons effectively benefiting from the rehabilitation measures, including those set out in section 13(1)(a) to (f) of Act No. 25 of 2013. Please also indicate the measures taken to rehabilitate manual scavengers who left scavenging before the enactment of the new legislation and on the education programme for children of families presently or previously engaged in manual scavenging. The Committee also requests information on any measures taken to improve the effectiveness of the rehabilitation schemes for women beneficiaries and for the protection and rehabilitation of Dalit Muslims and Christians engaged in manual scavenging.

Equality of opportunity and treatment of women and men. The Committee had previously noted from the 11th Plan that the labour force participation of women remained much lower than that of men and that in urban areas unemployment was much higher for young women than for men in the corresponding age group in both the unorganized and the private sectors. With respect to the results achieved under the 11th Five-Year Plan of the concrete measures taken to promote equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation in the public and private sectors, the Committee notes that the Government provides only general information and indicates that providing decent quality jobs to the majority of women in the workforce remains a challenge. The Government anticipates that educational attainment will empower women to join the labour market at a slightly later age, be better qualified and to access quality employment in the organized sector. The Government indicates that one of the priorities of the 12th Five-Year Plan (2012–17) is to provide opportunities for education and skills development to all sections of society irrespective of gender, while at the same time recognizing the need to give priority to women in the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), launched by the Ministry of Rural Development in 2011, which aims at facilitating the creation of self-help groups of women at the national scale and enabling them to undertake a self-sustaining economic activity. The Committee notes the measures taken to offer training courses for women in vocational and industrial training institutes, and refers in this context to its direct request on this Convention. Noting that the Government’s report contains no further information regarding the specific measures foreseen under the 12th Five-Year Plan to promote and ensure equality of opportunity in employment and occupation between men and women, in rural and urban areas, as well as the private, public and unorganized sectors, the Committee requests the Government to provide such information, as well as information on the impact of major employment generation programmes including the NRLM, in enhancing equal employment opportunities for men and women. It also requests the Government to make the necessary efforts to collect and provide more recent and relevant statistical information on the participation of men and women in employment, according to sector and employment status, allowing an assessment of the progress made over time.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.