Kolkata’s Informal Sector: Changing Pattern of Labour Use

Kolkata already contained a large informal sector of industrial activities in colonial times. The trends, which were visible in the pre-independence days, were reinforced in the first fifty postcolonial India. A heterogeneous labour force is employed without the sanction of labour legislation and they are rising continuously in Third World urban sites or agglomerates. Both domestic and foreign firms thrived in the city area on the basis of ancillarisation. The chapter attempts to trace the changing pattern of labour use in this amorphous segment in Kolkata urban agglomerate during the last few decades. The all India industrial scene also revealed an increasing trend of marginalization and casualization of labour force. Kolkata had witnessed a spurt in informal activities during the last few decades. The city also experienced a difference in policy prescriptions in the state of West Bengal. Labour organisations are much stronger in this state and labour movements have included the workers in this segment. The chapter investigates whether this affected the pattern of labour use in the state.