1. Protecting the Vulnerable:
Providing social welfare to
informal sector workers

2. -Sir Willium Beveris
"Social security means the attach on five demons- necessity, illness, ignorance,
pollution and unemployment.”
"It is the security which society by proper organization provides against
certain risks by which their members are victimized."
-International Labour Organisation
Hence, social security signifies protection of man from
possible dangers like illness, pollution, ignorance, which low
income persons, cannot compete. This word signifies vast
meaning and includes all works of human welfare.

3. • Workmen’s Compensation Act (1923),
• The industrial disputes act (1947),
• The employees state insurance act (1948),
• The minimum wages act (1948),
• The coal mines provident funds and miscellaneous provisions
act (1948),
• The employees provident fund and miscellaneous provisions act
(1952),
• The maternity benefit act (1961),
• The seamen’s provident fund act (1966),
• The contract labour act (1970),
• The payment of gratuity act (1972),
• The building and construction workers act (1996) etc.
Independent India’s constitution : Social Security Acts

4. Unorganized sector…
However, only about 8% of workers actually
get the benefits available under these Acts.
The rest 92%--over 30 crores??

5. • These Acts only apply to those workers who have a clear
employer-employee relationship. 50% of India’s workers
are self employed.
• Workers are not organized and hence have no bargaining
power, because of this, even when laws exist workers are
too weak, too disorganized to demand them.
• The laws are supposed to be implemented through the
Government bureaucracy which has neither the
manpower nor the knowhow to reach the scattered crores
of workers.
Reasons…

6. The National Commission for Enterprises in the
Unorganized Sector (NCEUS) is a national body
commissioned by the Indian government in 2004 to
address the issues faced by enterprises in relation to
the unorganised sector.
The Commission was to make appropriate
recommendations to provide technical, marketing and
credit support to these enterprises. The term of the
Commission which was initially fixed at one year.
Actions of Government

7. Actions of Government
• Indian Parliament finally passed an ambitious law aimed at
ensuring social security to workers in the unorganised
sector, comprising 94% of the country’s labour force.
• The ‘Unorganised Sector Workers’ Social Security
Bill, 2005 --- Draft Bill
• Included a dozen welfare schemes like health insurance, group
accident scheme, savings-cum-relief scheme, and family and old-
age benefit schemes.

8. 52
10.992
22.8
2.424
2.592
6.528
2.664
48
Percentage of workers in Unorganised
Sector
Agriculture Manufacturing Constructions
Trade & Repair etc. Transport & storage etc Other Services etc.
Other Industrial Groups
Non-AgricultureAgriculture
34.9 Million Organised Workers
412.4 Million Unorganised workers
Unorganized
Organized
GDP Share
Unorganized Organized
Agriculture
non-agriculture
GDP SHARE IN UNORGANIZED SECTOR

9. Actions of Government: Unorganized Sectors’
Social Security Act (2008)
NCEUS presented two Draft Bills on Conditions of Work and
Social Security for Unorganized Workers to the Prime Minister.
Based on the comments received from States, Trade Unions and
others, the Commission revised the earlier proposal and proposed
two Bills:
• “Unorganised Non-agricultural Sector Workers
(Conditions of Work and Livelihood Promotion) Bill,
2007”
• “Unorganised Agricultural Sector Workers
(Conditions of Work and Livelihood Promotion) Bill,
2007”

10. Actions of Government
Each of those bill was divided into TWO parts:
• Part 1 of each of the Bills contains provisions
relating to the regulation of conditions of
work of wageworkers.
• Part 2 relates to the protection and
promotion of livelihoods of the unorganised
workers.

11. The proposed Bills also mandate that the
government takes the necessary steps to
protect and promote these livelihoods
through appropriate policies and
programmes. The Bills have also provided for
an institutional machinery to take a holistic
view of the sector and to mobilise the
necessary resources to help the sector
overcome constraints and facilitate its
growth.

12. Both Central and State Govt. Formulated certain
Schemes:
•Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojna (SGSY)
•Sampoorna Gramin Rozgar Yojana (SGRY),
•National Food for Work Programme (NFFWP),
•Indra Awass Yojna(IAY),
•Integrated Wastelands Development
Programme (IWDP)
•National Rural Employment Guarantee Act-
2005(NREGA): provides 100 days guaranteed
employment to rural household.

13. • Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana for BPL family(member 5) launched on 1st oct
2007.
• Smart card based cashless health insurance cover of Rs. 30,000 to a BPL family
of five.
• All pre-existing diseases to be covered.
• Hospitalisation expenses, taking care of the most of the illnesses.
• Transportation cost of Rs. 100 per visit with an overall limit of Rs. 1000/- per
annum.
Till 15th April, 2009, 22 States/ Union Territories have initiated the process to
implement the scheme. Out of these 17 States have started issuing smart cards and
more than 39.71 lakh cards have been issued providing the health insurance for
more than 1.98 crore persons.
Contd…

14. • Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana for BPL family(member 5) launched on 1st oct 2007.
• Smart card based cashless health insurance cover of Rs. 30,000 to a BPL family of
five.
• All pre-existing diseases to be covered.
• Hospitalisation expenses, taking care of the most of the illnesses.
• Transportation cost of Rs. 100 per visit with an overall limit of Rs. 1000/- per
annum.
Till 15th April, 2009, 22 States/ Union Territories have initiated the process to implement
the scheme. Out of these 17 States have started issuing smart cards and more than
39.71 lakh cards have been issued providing the health insurance for more than 1.98
crore persons.
• In 2010, government launched the Swavalamban Yojana, administered by the Pension
Fund Regulatory and Development Authority - a pension scheme for the workers
engaged in the unorganized sector.
Contd…

15. In fact a comprehensive Act, catering to
the security needs of the unorganized
sector such as Food, Nutrition, Health,
Housing, Employment, Income, Life
and accident, and old age remains a
dream in India. Still the cries of the
unorganized sector goes unattended with
the governments laying red carpets for
the corporates and so called investors at
the expense and sacrifice of the working
class.

16. Flaws of the Act…
• How can it be called an act unless it has the
legal binding and provisions of rights to work
and entitlements under it?
• Here as per the act nothing is mentioned about
what constitutes appropriate and adequate
social security for the vast mass of
unorganized workers and their dependents?
• What eligibility criteria, if any, ought to be
prescribed?

17. Contd…
• What will be the scale of benefits that the
workers and their families are entitled to
receive and under what conditions?
• What will be the funding arrangements that
must be put in positions to meet the cost of
social security and so on?

18. This law which does not deal with the issue of
unemployment, its regulation, wages, and
conditions of work and so on is not merely
incomplete but dysfunctional if it proceeds to
deal with social security on a stand alone basis.
The Act, actually, suffers from a serious lack of
legislative policy and intent. Ultimately this Act
is an eye wash which has neither the capacity to
address nor the inbuilt provision to provide
solutions to the needs of the unorganized
sector.

19. How the Acts can be implemented in a fruitful
way???
• Identifying the unorganised workers by conducting surveys.
• Conducting legal awareness programmes for the identified groups of
unorganised workers about different welfare schemes and social security
measures available.
• Persuading and assisting the workers in the unorganised sector to avail of the
benefits under the different social welfare legislations, administrative
programmes and schemes put in place by the Governments.
• Reaching out to the unorganised labourers and facilitating their bargaining
capacity with the employers and the institutional mechanisms for their welfare.
• Providing legal assistance in appropriate cases.