Dr. Banarsi Lal and Dr. Shahid Ahamad
The quest for security in old times created many social devices to afford protection to the needy. Joint family system of the bygone era used to be the most effective institution for security against economic deprivation. Due to socio-economic changes the joint family system has withered away. It has been taken by nuclear family system. Institutionalised social security has become crucial to meet the challenges of contemporary society. As the State is the social organisation, the expectation today is that the State will be an umbrella of total protection against economic risks. Although industrialisation and economic growth opens up new vistas, displacement from the traditional vocations is throwing an ever increasing number of people out of assured income opportunities and making them dependent on social safety nets.
In Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United National General Assembly, the State responsibility to protect the weak and the indigent is clearly enunciated. It says, “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and wellbeing of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control”. It has been observed that activities in the organised sector are steadily shrinking worldwide. The situation in India is more complex. In India, urban poor are self-employed, often in unregistered informal sector activities which provide only wage employment. Now more and more workers are getting into the unorganised or informal sector. Informalisation imposes a heavy cost on society in terms of jobs, income and healthcare. The United Nations Organisation has mandated the International Labour Organisation to assist the Government of India in implementing programmes to eradicate poverty and come up with proposals on macro-economic policies that will facilitate growth with productive employment. The International Labour Organisation viewed that creation of jobs and self-employment avenues should be in tandem with the existing tax based social assistance schemes for destitute groups. Self-financing schemes for contingencies such as life insurance, disability and major medical expenses should be launched for the poor people of society. Around 40 crores of able bodied persons in the age group of 18-60 years are in the unorganised or informal sector. There income is not fixed and they do not enjoy other benefits normally derived from jobs in the organised sector. It would be a great step if the poor people are integrated with the regular labour market. The benefit of social insurance linked to workers contribution especially pension and unemployment insurance rarely provides adequate income replacement for workers in the informal sector. Thus there is need to integrate the poor people into the regular labour market and registered small firms so that they can derive the basic benefits. There is a need to strengthen and expand social security measures to benefit the growing workforce in the informal sector. Designing a credible, comprehensive and workable social security package has become a key issue in labour law reforms.
Tentative steps have been taken in the past to tackle the problems of the unorganised sector workforce. The government of India has initiated meaningful programmes to harmonise economic development with social security. Many programmes for social security and eradication of poverty are in tandem. The government utilises its apparatus along with the non-governmental organisations to eradicate poverty, create employment and build social institutions. As long as these programmes are not fully underway, safety net interventions will continue in order to supplement workers income through a variety of schemes and programmes financed by the Centre and States. On-governmental safety net societies are being encouraged as they may be more suitable in reaching the poor outside formal employment. Integrated child development schemes are in progress for the children up to six years of age and their mothers can avail health, immunisation and health services. Lot of efforts are made by the government to immunise children against the childhood diseases. Free elementary education is made available by the Indian government to the children. Efforts to control environmental pollution, wildlife protection, and clean rivers are being made. Schemes for handloom weavers, artisans and some other sections in the unorganised sector are in place. The Krishi Shiksha Aur Samajik Suraksha Yojana was launched through Life Insurance Corporation of India in 2001 in fifty districts of the country to facilitate 10 lakh agricultural workers.
The Union Labour Ministry operates five welfare funds for bidi, limestone, dolomite, iron ore and cine workers aged between 18 to 60 years living below poverty line or marginally above the poverty line. These funds were integrated with the LIC’s Janashree Bima Yojana in August 2000 and are used for housing, health care, drinking water, children education etc. Many state governments have launched several security schemes for social workers in the informal sector but these funds are far from adequate. Most of the state governments allocated less than two per cent of their total spent for social security. The meagerness of the allocations apart from the actual benefit delivered to the poor is a matter of concern. Even the state governments are spending on welfare measures ranges between one per cent to two per cent, the problems of the unorganised sector are more in concern today than ever before. The state governments’ role in launching social security and welfare schemes cannot be underestimated. Some states have pension schemes for landless agricultural labourers, maternity benefit schemes as well as schemes for the physically handicapped. Cooperation from all social partners is needed for comprehensive social security and also there is a need to rationalise labour laws.
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