The present study titled “Economic Exploitation and Labour Rights of Contract Based Women Workers in India” critically examines the multilayered vulnerabilities experienced by women employed under contractual labour systems across different sectors in India. Contract-based employment has emerged as a dominant labour arrangement in manufacturing, textile, construction, food processing, agriculture, logistics, and various service industries. Although this form of employment is often justified on grounds of flexibility, cost-efficiency, and short-term labour needs, it perpetuates a significant degree of economic exploitation, insecurity, and violation of labour rights—particularly for women workers who already face structural gender disadvantages. Through a socio-economic and gender-sensitive lens, the study analyses how contract-based employment systems create conditions of low wages, irregular payments, long working hours, occupational hazards, absence of social protection, and lack of workplace safety and welfare facilities.

A significant focus of the study lies in understanding the economic marginalization that results from wage discrimination, gendered division of labour, and absence of wage transparency. Women contract workers are often confined to low-skilled, repetitive, or labour-intensive tasks where wages are determined not by skill or productivity but by their weak bargaining power. The study highlights issues such as payment below minimum wages, piece-rate exploitation, denial of maternity benefits, lack of provident fund or pension, and a near-complete exclusion from social security schemes. Furthermore, the power dynamics between contractors, employers, and workers create a system where women are unable to negotiate better conditions due to fear of job loss, lack of unionization, and widespread informality.