Published Paper Details:

India is expected to overtake China as the world's most populous country between 2023 and 2050. India has seen tremendous urban progress since liberalization in 1991. As a result, more and more people migrated to cities in search of jobs and income. This lead to a shift from agriculture and manufacturing to the service sector. This shift has resulted in a decline in formal employment opportunities, pushing more people into the informal sector. People with lesser qualification find more opportunities in the informal sector. This lowers poverty though it is low paying and workers may face exclusion and marginalization. People in the informal sector are vulnerable due to lack of formal systems / bureaucratic systems. This was visible during the pandemic when many employers and employees in the informal sector were suddenly without any source of income or protection. Since it is unorganized tax evasion, is a challenge faced by the Indian government. So the objective of the study was to understand the income earning patterns in the informal sector, the level of education of people in the informal sector as also gender dynamics of the informal sector. A sample of 259 informal sector entrepreneurs were interviewed and the random sampling method was utilized for selecting the sample. It was observed that a huge gender gap was prevailing in the sector along with a large number of educated citizens being a part of this ecosystem. The data showed that the number of people employed in businesses like street food, groceries and agriculture are among the highest. But the income earned through street food business and agriculture is among the lowest. Many businesses in the informal sector have also started using UPI enabled digital transactions, which leave a traceable electronic trail which makes it more difficult for informal businesses to hide their income and evade taxes, as transactions are recorded and can be monitored by tax authorities. Still there is enormous scope to study the challenges faced by people in the informal sector and how they can be initiated into the formal sector thereby helping to establish the economic balance in the country.