Workplace discrimination, Caste-based inequalities persist:ILO

New Delhi, May 10 (UNI) India fares better than other Asian nations in terms of discrimination at the work place, but caste-based inequalities are still deep rooted and widespread, an ILO Report released here today says.

A highlight of the Global Report is that it brings out the stark fact that apart from traditional forms of discrimination, such as caste-based attrocities, new forms of discrimination are surfacing in Asia brought about by structural economic reforms, economic openness and greater movement of people.

The Report titled -- 'Equality at work: tackling the challenges'-- carries out a survey of the Asian Region and finds that one in six respondents had been discriminated against in the workplace, this is 16.7 per cent. As compared to this, 12 per cent in India, experience this form of discrimintaion.

The Report was released by Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes who outlined the steps the UPA government was taking to improve the lot of the working class.

The figure is one of the highest in the case of Phillipines of about 21 per cent.

The comparative percentage of workplace discrimination in Indonesia is 15 per cent and seven per cent in Thailand.

Women still remain the largest group facing discrimination in terms of employment opportunities and wage gaps.

An increaase in employment rates for women over the past decade has not been even throughout the Region. For example, in East Asia and the Pacific, the female share of non-agricultural paid employment increased to 43.5 per cent while in South Asia the rate remains the world's lowest at only 16.5 per cent. Furthermore, two-thirds of all employed women in South Asia are working without pay.

The Report says persistent forms of discrimination in South Asia are caste-based and ethinicity-based inequalities. For example, this form of prejudices confines Dalits to occupations often involving the most menial tasks such as manual scavenging or the removal of dead animals. Dalits are generally not accepted for any work involving contact with water or food for non-Dalits or entering a non-Dalits residence. They are thus excluded from a wide range of work opportunities in the area of production, processing, or sale of food items, demestic work, and the provision of certain services in the private and public sectors.

An important measure of good quality jobs available to women is their share of the legisature, senior official or managerial(LSOM) jobs. Higher participation rates for women in LSOM jobs indicates a reduction of discrimination barriers. Overall, the Asia and Pacific region experienced a rise of nearly four per cent in such positions over the past decades. However, South Asia shows only 8.6 per cent of women attaining these levels as compared to 24.8 per cent for East Asia and Pacific.

UNI