Bridging the Divide: Constitutional Protections and the Reality of Women Workers in India's Unorganized Sector

The unorganised sector of Indian employment employs a vast majority of the working population of about 28.7 crore people registered where there are about 15.1 crore registered female workers as per the National E-Shram portal, In the working of this sector, women occupy an extremely considerable position which is about 52.8% of the jobs. Yet, in this sector, women face several problems in terms of low wages, insecurity about jobs, and deprivation of social protections. Constitutional provisions are there that mainly aim to bring gender equality in society, such as the Right to Equality(Equality for law), the Prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of gender, and under the directive principles of state policy where the state shall, in particular, direct its policy towards securing equal pay for both Men and Women which remains usually inadequately enforced in the cases of workers belonging to the unorganised sector This paper attempts to review the existing constitutional protections secured for women to their affiliation in the unorganised workforce and examines the functionality of labour laws concerning legislative schemes which intended to confer equality, recognise them, also it gives a clear suggestion about the most immediate and mandatory agenda for strong law centric approach, revolutionary policy inputs to bridge the gap with many of the constitutional guarantees as there are significant gaps between these provisions and the realities women in the sector face. It assesses the systemic inequalities that continue to exist, thereby showing that mere promises in a constitution are not enough. Amendments to the existing labour laws and the introduction of new potent policies are the key legal interventions that should be taken in addressing the socio-economic vulnerability of women workers in the unorganized sector. What is more, the research underscored the imperative of adopting gender and age-inclusive employment policies.