Poor women workers in informal sector contribute significantly to nation’s economy: Nandini Azad
Nandini Azad, president of the Working Women’s Forum, highlighted the critical economic contributions of women in the informal sector who face systemic inequality. She emphasized the success of a gender and equity model that provides small loans and leadership training to empower these workers.
Why it matters
It sheds light on the economic struggles and resilience of the informal workforce, which constitutes a massive portion of the Indian economy.
More than 90 per cent of poor women workers are deployed in the informal sector and make critical contributions to the country’s economy, Nandini Azad, President, Working Women’s Forum (India) (WWF) and Indian Cooperative Network for Women (ICNW) said.
While speaking recently at ‘ArTribute 2026’ theme launch ‘Shades of Her – Tribute to Women’ held at the IIT-Madras, she said, these women are powerless, invisible, low paid, unregulated and lack bargaining power. They have less to no investment capacities, and no trade unions to support them.
“These women survive amidst starvation, social oppression, and the three-fold inequalities of caste, class, and gender. Yet they demonstrate extraordinary socialised resilience, operating through indigenous methods and ingenious mechanisms despite severe drudgery and discriminatory conditions,” she said.
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