ISLE Annual Conference

The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE) is pleased to announce its 65th Annual Conference to be held at Bengaluru, Karnataka, India during 9-11 January 2025. The Conference is being organised by the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bengaluru in collaboration with the Department of Labour, Government of Karnataka at ISEC Campus. Professor Lakhwinder Singh, Visiting Professor at the Institute for Human Development, New Delhi and Former Professor, Punjabi University, Patiala, Punjab is the Conference President. Professor S. Madheswaran, RBI Chair Professor and Head, Centre for Economic Studies and Policy, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bengaluru and Dr. G. Manjunath, Additional Labour Commissioner, Government of Karnataka are the Organising Secretaries of the Conference. Conference is open to academicians, professionals, development practitioners, civil society members etc. interested in labour, employment and development issues. Participation in the Conference is by invitation and registration only. Conference is international and prospective contributors from both India and outside are invited to contribute papers and participate. Conference Structure and Duration The Conference Programme will consist of presentation of selected papers on the Conference themes in the thematic and technical sessions. In addition, 3-4 Plenary lectures by eminent scholars/public intellectuals will be held during the Conference. A Plenary Panel and around 8-10 Thematic (Parallel) Panels will also be organised. The Conference will begin at 9:00 am on 9 January 2025 and conclude by 2:00 pm on 11 January 2025. Participants are advised to reach Bengaluru a day prior to the Conference and schedule their departure after 3 pm of 11 January 2025 or in the morning of 12 January 2025. Pre-Conference Events A couple of Pre-Conference Events (lecture/panel) will also be organised on 8 January 2025 post lunch. Theme 1 Landscape of Self-Employment: Assessing Structures, Status, and Work Quality Persons who operate their own farm or non-farm enterprises or are engaged independently in a profession or trade on their own-account or with one or a few partners are considered to be self-employed. The essential feature of the self-employed is that the operators have autonomy (i.e., how, where and when to produce) and economic independence (i.e., market, scale of operation and money) for carrying out their operation. Self-employment thus stands in contra distinction to wage employment (regular or casual) in which the employers take the decisions on what and how to produce, and the workers perform labour under their control. The category of the self-employed thus varies in scale, type, and use of technology. It includes small and traditional operators such as farmers, weavers, rope makers, waste-collectors, carpenters, plumbers, leather-workers, transport operators, but it also includes high level professionals such as doctors, chartered accountants, senior consultants etc. Although the self-employed persons comprise a vast heterogeneous range, the bulk of the enterprises that they operate are at low levels of technology and have low productivity. There is a category of workers who may be termed as “dependent” self-employed workers who enjoy lesser autonomy and independence than independent self employed workers. They work at a place of their choice which is outside the establishment that employs them, supplies them with inputs, or buys their product on pre-arranged terms. They are also referred to as ‘home workers’, ‘home based workers’ and ‘out workers’ The ‘home workers’ have some degree of autonomy and economic independence in carrying out the work, and their work is not directly supervised, as is the case for the employees