Giving Compass' Take:

• India Development Review examines the challenges of the informal workforce in India, why it's so difficult to address this sector's needs, and how entrepreneurship could offer a solution.

• Mentoring and financial assistance are two important pillars in making sure informal workers have the opportunities to grow. What lessons can we take from India into the U.S. "informal" economy?

• This new study calls on more cities around the world to integrate informal workers.

The image of the "struggling" daily wage laborer in India is one that stakeholders from across the development sector aspire to transform. Financial security, quality living conditions, and opportunity to thrive are the buzzwords in a conversation about the needs of this bracket. These workers — usually associated with the informal or unorganized sector — are assumed to represent the outliers of the national economy.

By definition, the informal sector includes those roles which aren’t taxed or monitored by any form of government. Recent findings however, indicate that 81 percent of India’s employed individuals work in the informal sector, of which 64 percent are engaged in non-agricultural forms of employment. Thus, while the informal sector may only contribute a sliver to national income charts, it clearly takes up a sizable slice in the national employment pie ...

With the push towards entrepreneurship created by the Start-Up India movement, workers in the informal economy cannot be excluded from the picture. While they may be at a disadvantage when compared to their counterparts in the white-collar end of the spectrum, it mustn’t be forgotten that these blue-collar entrepreneurs could open the doors required to organize 81 percent of the working Indian population. This is a mammoth task, which cannot be accomplished by simply creating amendments in policy. So, what do we need to do?

1. Inclusive entrepreneurship
2. Training and mentorship
3. Financial support

Read the full article about brining informal workers to the forefront of the economy by Annette Francis at India Development Review.