Hyderabad: Women constitute nearly 85% of Telangana’s agricultural workforce but continue to earn about 20% less than men for similar work, while 94% of construction workers remain in the informal sector, exposing deep-rooted inequalities in two of the state’s largest employment sectors despite recent labour reforms.The findings were presented by the Telangana labour department during an International Labour Organisation (ILO) knowledge-sharing workshop held at the International Training Centre in Turin, Italy.In a presentation, additional labour commissioner E Gangadhar said agriculture and construction remain the state’s most vulnerable employment sectors. Around 70-75% of the workforce in cotton cultivation comprises hired labour, including migrant workers, while low wages, occupational health hazards and inadequate social security continue to pose major challenges.Gangadhar said the state has taken several steps to improve working conditions through coordinated efforts involving the labour, agriculture, police and women and child welfare departments. These include digital registration of workers through e-SHRAM, welfare schemes for construction workers and targeted interventions to eliminate child labour.Drawing on an ILO-supported cotton supply chain project implemented in Adilabad, Warangal, Nalgonda and adwal districts, the presentation noted that pesticide exposure, gender wage disparity and child labour continue to affect agricultural workers. It also highlighted progress in strengthening 68 farmer producer organisations and forming a cotton workers’ union with over 11,000 members.The department, however, acknowledged several implementation challenges, including a shortage of labour inspectors, weak inter-departmental coordination, difficulties in tracking migrant workers, lack of reliable baseline data and legal gaps relating to gig workers and family-based child labour. It noted that multi-layer subcontracting in agriculture and construction has further complicated enforcement of labour laws.
