EDITORIALS

february 14, 2015 vol l no 7 EPW Economic & Political Weekly8

Indias unorganised or informal sector workers other than cultivators constitute over 72% of the workforce. This huge workforce has seen little change in its social security despite successive central governments putting in place a vari-ety of programmes. According to the latest data estimates made by the National Sample Survey Offi ce from its 201112 survey of the informal sector 79% of informal sector work-ers do not have a written employment contract, 72% of them do not receive any social security benefi ts, and 71% are not en-titled to paid leave. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government of 19992004 had in 2004 launched modest old age pension and health insurance schemes, which did not go anywhere. Subsequently, the United Progressive Alliance governments National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS) came up in 2007 with substantive and ambitious proposals for social security. But only a weak set of schemes were put in place after the enactment of the Un organised Workers Social Security Act, 2008. Modest the schemes may have been but in the new legislation they had to be monitored by national and state advisory boards. Had implementation of the 2008 act at least ensured proper coverage and monitoring, it could have been said to go some way in looking after the interests of the informal sector workers. Critiques and analyses of the acts implemen-tation, however, tell a dismal story over the six years since its enactment.

In keeping with tradition, the second iteration of the NDA government, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has decided to come up with its own new social security programme. We have news that the Ministry of Labour and Employment will under-take an all-India drive to enrol workers in the unorganised sector to provide a social security net through smart cards called You Win, which will provide facilities including cash, health and pension benefi ts. But, at the same time, the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Bandaru Dattatreya, informed the Lok Sabha in December 2014 that there was no proposal to extend benefi ts like the Employees Provident Fund, Employees State Insurance, gratuity and pension facilities to all unorganised sector workers.

The term informal sector worker covers those who work in a variety of occupations and enterprises at home, in small enterprises and even in formal enterprises, the common

characteristic being the informal nature of their employment. Even as the informal sector keeps expanding and drawing a larger and younger workforce within its ambit, the terms of employment and conditions of work remain as irregular as ever before.

The 2008 act which makes available 10 social security bene-fi ts like the Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana, the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana, the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme and the Janani Suraksha Yojana among others does have a number of shortcomings. Under the act, the government is not compelled to draw up new welfare schemes, there is no mention of a national minimum wage, and there is no promise to improve working conditions. Again, these social security schemes are not designed or meant to ensure universal and fair coverage of the intended benefi ciaries. As has been pointed out by a number of studies, the schemes are owned by different ministries and departments, and they overlap between state and central agencies. As a result, the data on eligibility and entitlement is diffi cult to access and assess, identifi cation criteria of intended benefi ciaries can and do change and the cumulative consequence is that workers have to spend time and energy at the cost of their daily earnings in applying for and claiming the benefi ts.

The common characteristic of work in the informal sector is its precariousness, low wages and lack of occupational safety with ensuing work-related ill-health. The insecurity about jobs and wages is one of the most remarked upon features by those who have tried to organise them. The minimum wages fi xed by state governments suffer at the level of implementation, with women and migrant workers bearing the brunt of corruption and the lack of a well-run grievance redressal forum. It goes without saying, therefore, that the introduction and implementation of a national minimum wage is critically important alongside putting in place punitive measures to target corruption and irregulari-ties in payment.

The central government would do well to target the lacunae in the 2008 act and streamline the design and applicability of the social security schemes. There is no shortage of literature and recommendations should the will to do so be present. Without the basic guarantee of work security and minimum wages, the best sounding schemes are meaningless.

Insecure, Underpaid and Unsafe

Indias vast informal sector workforce is entitled to a minimum wage and job security.