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Stung By COVID-19, Indian Businesses Rethink Worker Benefits
More than 90% of India's 450-million strong workforce are informal, recruited through tiers of labour contractors with low wages and no social security benefits such as health insurance or pensions.
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As Kerala's industrial heartland cranks back to life post-lockdown, orders are returning to its printing presses, workshops and chemical plants. But to bosses' dismay, many workers are in no hurry to come back from their villages.
"There is a strong reluctance among the workers to return," said Rajesh Gopalakrishnan, head of an industry association representing 200 small businesses in the southern state.