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This paper aims at presenting the findings of the study on the position of street vendors in the District Srinagar, Kashmir, in India, including both men and women, during the COVID-19 lockdown. The purpose of the study was to explore various challenges street vendors faced during the COVID-19 lockdown and to highlight the vulnerability of this particular group of informal workers. The data was collected through face-to-face interviews with the use of a questionnaire, on a sample of 150 street vendors from the District Srinagar. In addition, a certain number of in-depth interviews with selected respondents from the sample was done. The study findings show that the majority of the respondents have lost their job during the peak period of COVID-19, i.e. from March to July 2020. The findings have also revealed that the lockdown directly impacted the socio-economic conditions of the workers which made it very difficult for them to survive during the peak of COVID-19. Additionally, workers were struggling very hard in order to fulfill the basic daily needs of their families. Therefore, it is suggested that the government of India should provide financial support to street vendors in order to compensate for the loss caused due to the COVID-19 lockdown.

In India, the brick kiln industry is a huge industry employing millions of workers belonging to both rural and urban areas. Most workers in the brick kiln industry reside near the worksites in unhygienic and shabby homes, mainly made up of raw bricks. The present research was carried out on migrant workers who work in the brick kiln industry in District Budgam of Kashmir valley. It is a qualitative study carried out with the help of a focused group discussion with the workers. The study has revealed that all the workers are from Bihar and work in the brick kiln industry for six to seven months per year. All the respondents of the study with whom group discussion was done were illiterate. There are various problems associated with workers like health problems, lack of proper living space, the problem of child labour and lack of any social security support from the government. Workers in the brick kiln industry work under a very high-pressure workload especially during the peak season of construction. There is an urgent need on part of the government to frame some policies for the welfare and protection of migrant brick kiln workers. Further, employers should also provide safe living space and social security to workers.

Form Wuhan city of China, Coronavirus has reached every corner of the world. India is also struggling to protect its population from it. The Government of India declared nationwide lock down initially for a period of twenty-one days and then it was extended. During the period of lock down all activities like educational, cultural, religious and economical were restricted. Therefore, present paper highlights the various problems informal workers faced during this period. The paper focuses on the informal sector because in India nearly 92 per cent of the workforce works in the informal sector. The data gathered revealed that during the period of lockdown, informal workers faced various problems like lack of support from government in the form of social security, job loss, food scarcity, lack of sanitizers and problem of migration from one place to another. It is suggested that the government should support informal workers in order to compensate the loss caused due to lockdown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In India workers in informal sector are economically and socially backward, especially women workers. They are excluded both within the family and also within the wider society. So women are doubly exploited. The benefits of development with respect to economic development hardly reach this segment. Due to this factor women in informal sector are socially excluded. Women are mostly engaged with doing house hold work, which is never given importance and their contribution is never acknowledged. In present day world women are found working outside the homes for which they are paid. They are working both in the formal and informal sectors. The unorganized sector includes different sectors like, home based workers, construction laborers, waste pickers, and domestic workers. However, women are mostly found in performing domestic work. Domestic work is seen as low and impure occupation mainly performed by women and children, whose lives are still dominated by a caste system that assigned people his/her place in the society. Domestic work has a long history in India with both men and women working in others homes as servants. Women working as domestic workers are mostly socially and economically backward. The present paper has been written in order to understand the socio-economic conditions of women domestic workers in India. Also, the paper will throw light on various other problems like health, child rearing and sexual harassment faced by women domestic workers in India. The research paper will also highlight the various steps taken by government of India for the wellbeing of women domestic workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]