Collectivisation, research and knowledge-building at scale, and urban narrative and policy change with informal sector workers across 32 cities in India.
Location
India (32 cities)
Urban labour rights and collective action in the Indian informal economy
Organisation
Population
Tier 1 cities (6-29 million): 7
Tier 2 cities (up to ~5 million+): 15
Tier 3 cities (up to ~2 million+): 101
Growth Rate
2.33%2
Key Stakeholders
Women
Refugees / Migrants
Informal Workers
Whole Community
Other Stakeholders
Local NGOs, CSOs, CBOs
City Authorities
Other Service Providers
State / Federal Actors
Academia
Media
Professional Associations
Labour Unions
Donors
Multilateral Organisations
Relevant SDGS
Disruption
City and Sector
Scaleability
National
Summary
Context
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India’s total urban population is expected to grow rapidly from 461 million in 2018 to 607 million by 2030. In 2018, India had 61 cities with populations of 1m+ and 5 megacities of 10m+; by 2030, these are projected to rise to 71 cities with 1m+, with 7 megacities.3
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The urbanisation process has failed to meet the demands of this increasing population, with large gaps in providing basic amenities to the urban poor, including millions migrating internally to cities in search of livelihoods.
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The growth rate of internal migration was a staggering 45% from 2001-11, with a total of 457 million people, according to the 2011 census. During COVID-19, reverse urban-rural migration has been huge, with estimates around 22-30 million by June 2020.4
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94% of India’s labour force is in the informal sector.5 During COVID-19, there was an estimated jump in urban unemployment from 9% to 25% during the March/April 2020 lockdown period alone.6
Interview
In this interview, KT Suresh, National Lead – Urban & Labour, Action Aid Association India tells us about the complexity and dynamism of urban labour and informal sector work in India, how traditional rural-urban migration and other urban narratives need to be challenged, why it is important to build models for collective knowledge-sharing and theorising about urban development, and why local ownership and flexibility – rather than any grand programme – is critical to innovation and impact in urban contexts.
In the short excerpt below, KT briefly explains the big idea behind Action Aid India’s urban approach. For the FULL INTERVIEW, please visit Soundcloud or Spotify.
Key Programme Activities
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Community engagement
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Data/technology
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Education/behaviour change
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Employment/livelihoods opportunities
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Organisational training/skills building
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Policy/advocacy
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Research
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Improved service delivery
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Stakeholder co-ordination, network-building
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Technical support
Key Outcomes
Since 2015, ActionAid Association India’s approach has:
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Helped form more than 900 collectives of more than 40,000 unorganised informal workers from 16 different trades, such as rag picking, waste management and domestic work, with more than 20,000 – mostly women – able to access social security measures as a result.
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Established more than 50 Workers Facilitation Centres to help make labour migration more secure and ensure due rights, entitlements and a life of dignity to migrant workers. It has also provided life and livelihoods skills training to more than 30,000 people, including more than 25,000 women.
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Delivered multiple research projects at scale with under-represented communities across a number of cities in India, including most recently interviewing more than 17,000 migrant workers during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown periods.
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In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, provided food and sanitation material support to more than 2.5 million people in 201 districts across 24 states, including helping stranded migrant workers with essentials.
- Photo Credits
- – ActionAid Association India
- Notes
- – 1 The Government of India uses a three-tiered classification system of Indian cities based on population, development and infrastructure. These are the number of cities in each tier in which ActionAid Association India has worked, with estimated 2018 population sizes.
- – 2 Statistics from UN World Urbanization Prospects (2018), estimated average annual growth rate (2020-25) for India
- – 3 Statistics from UN World Urbanization Prospects (2018)
- – 4 Statistics from Business Today
- – 5 Statistics from ActionAid Association India
- – 6 Statistics from the Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy (CMIE)
