KARACHI, Feb 15: The number of workers in formal sector is decreasing while that in informal sector is gradually increasing. This phenomenon may have serious repercussions on society.

This was observed by emeritus Professor of Comparative Sociology in the Amsterdam University of Netherlands, Jan Breman while speaking at a memorial lecture dedicated to the late Hamza Alavi, a prominent social scientist of the country. Mr Breman had had a long association with the late Hamza Alavi.

The subject of the lecture, organized by South Asian Labour Forum, was Economics, Social and Political Implications of Globalization - from Formalization to Informalization of Work.

He said that owing to the impact of globalization, labour-related laws were being reviewed and rewritten and the benefits earlier available to workers of the formal sector were being withdrawn systematically. Even jobs in this sector were being scrapped.

He said that a large number of workers once associated with the formal sector enjoying secure jobs, benefits, old age security, etc was finding it difficult to get absorbed in the informal sector which not only offered lesser wages but also did not guarantee daily work and that, too, without benefits and social security.

Presenting his views, based on the research conducted by him in the Indian state of Gujarat where a large number of textile mills workers had been rendered jobless as mills had closed down, he observed that social fabric of the biggest industrial city of Ahmadabad, once regarded as 'Manchester of India', had been damaged.

He pointed out that these ex-workers were jobless while women of their families had to indulge in gainful activities while handling their household affairs simultaneously.

Many of the children who had earlier been going to schools had to quit schooling and were now forced to do some work to contribute to the pooled budget of their household.

Prof Breman suggested that owing to these harsh economic realities, one reason of being the globalization, these people appeared frustrated and the result was the recent Gujarat massacre which, according to him, could not be described as the similar kind of riots that had been taking place in the state over many decades. He was of the view that the recent riots were different where a particular minority community was targeted.

In Pakistan also, he said, a large number of workers in the formal sector had been rendered jobless on different grounds - like rightsizing, downsizing, golden handshake, voluntary retirements, etc - and many of them might have made their way into the already overburdened informal sector. But many others might still be roaming around and if corrective steps were not taken, it could have serious repercussions on the society, he added.

Prof Breman said the affected workers had been feeling that they had been cheated by three sectors - the employers, who sacked them without considering their proper care; the government, which remained indifferent while all this was going on and not coming to their rescue on legal grounds; and the trade unions, which appeared unable to guide them properly and protect them and had failed to organize any collective struggle for their due rights. The trade unions also appeared unable to prevent any further retrenchment.

He said that the globalization was creating a huge mess where every other worker was in competition with his fellow workers for a job. Earlier Prof Jaffer Ahmad paid tributes of the late Hamza Alavi and presented a brief life sketch of the late social scientist. He also introduced Prof Jan Breman to the audience comprising intellectuals, scholars, columnists, trade unions, NGO activists and others.

The lecture was followed by a question-answer session. Mr Anwer Abbbas, Prof Nauman, Shafiq Qureshi and Karamat Ali were among others who participated in the discussion.