SOIL Report 2008 - ACCESS Development Services

Chapter IVWhile these livelihoods have almost no barriers at the entry level, their life and livelihood do not have acommensurate growth chart. A typical rickshaw- puller in Delhi, for example, doesn’t move to becominga rickshaw ‘owner’ from a rickshaw ‘puller’. He doesn’t want to own a rickshaw. What he actuallydoesn’t have is ‘space’ to park the vehicle. He does not have the financial and social muscle to deal withthe Municipal Corporation when they take away the rickshaw for unauthorised parking. In most cases,a single person owns several dozens of rickshaws and rents these out on a daily basis. While ownershipof taxis and autos or even cycle rickshaws is a good income proposition, the owners have no place topark these overnight, unless they have substantial owned or rented space.Table 4.5 shows a much higher proportion of wage-employed persons in motor vehicles. While this istrue, a self-employed worker in non-motorised land transport is not necessarily the ‘owner’ of the vehicle.Any other person who hires it is also a self-employed person to the extent that s/he is not being paideither a regular or an irregular wage. Such persons earn their living and pay a rent to the formal ownerof the vehicle. These sets of workers also have peculiar problems due to the nature of their work andthe mobility it requires. Their work schedules and distances often don’t allow them to live in hygienicconditions. Truck drivers, for example, are the largest carriers of diseases such as AIDS in India. In mostcities, rickshaw-pullers live shelter-less and sleep on their rickshaws or on pavements.Helpers, cleaners and loaders are poorly paid and have difficult jobs, wherein they stay away from homefor months at a stretch. Yet if a villager is given life-skills orientation, including preventive healthcare,sanitation, hygiene before leaving for such jobs, the chances of him/her being able to cope with thedemands of the job and to grow into a higher grade livelihood are higher.Microfinanceinstitutionshave only beenable to reachout to therickshaw-pullersegment, as theother loan sizesare beyond theirscope.The other area of concern pertaining to the segment above is financial inclusion services. While financefor the vehicle might come to mind first, there are other more basic issues of being able to save at a safeplace, or remit money home or be insured for life and health, which are needed by transport workers.Insurance for health for example is something that could go a long way in ensuring their well-being. Bankaccounts for workers will help them save money while being on the move. For credit, there are informalmarkets for financing both auto rickshaws and cycle rickshaws. The terms are complex and exploitative,but the formal finance systems have inadequate market information to make a dent in the loan segmentfor motor vehicles due to their high cost. Increasingly, however, banks are looking at this segment ofautos and taxis. Microfinance institutions (MFIs) have only been able to reach out to the rickshaw-pullersegment, as the other loan sizes are beyond their scope.With over11 per centemploymentshare, ‘Trade,Hotels andRestaurants’is the highestemploymentcontributorin the servicessectors.86One possible approach is to build grassroots collectives such as drivers’ guilds and enable membershipto a platform, which provides legal and other counseling to address their issues. Driving training andorientation to the types of issues drivers, cleaners etc. face, would help them ensure greater safety andstability in their livelihood as transport workers. The nature of the work can remain the same, however,the conditions of work and workers can improve if steps are taken at an institutional level, which willensure continuity of efforts with workers in the sector.5. The retail trade, hotels and restaurants sector will only grow with thechange in consumer behaviourWith over 11 per cent employment share, ‘Trade, Hotels and Restaurants’ is the highest employmentcontributor in the services sectors. Within this segment, the contribution of retail and wholesale trade,both towards GDP and employment is much higher than hotels and restaurants, which contribute only13 per cent to the GDP. With an increasingly globalised economy, this sector will only grow, as consumerbehaviour is changing. Employment growth registered by this sector has been around 4.7 per cent. Consideringthe numbers involved and growth potential within this broad sector, the highest potential forlivelihoods of the poor is in the retail sector. Trade in general involves all the petty vendors and hawkers