PROTECTING THE VULNERABLE:PROVIDING SOCIAL WELFARE TO INFORMAL SECTOR WORKERS

INTRODUCTIONDefinition :The term unorganized sector, when used in the Indian context is defined by the international for enterprises in the unorganized sector, government of India in their report on conditions of work and promotion of livelihood in the unorganized sector as : the unorganized sector consists of all unincorporated private enterprises own by individuals or households engaged in the sales or production of goods and services operated on a partnership basis and with less than 10 workers.

Unorganized or informal sector constitutes a pivotal part of the Indian economy. More than 90 per cent of workforce and about 50 per cent of the national product are accounted for by the informal economy.

Under the Unorganized Sectors’ Social Security Act (2008) ,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, 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.Hence this unorganized sector is an area of major concern especially with alarming problems for providing social security to workers in this sector.

UNORGANIZED SECTOR

In terms of occupation

Small and marginal farmers, landless

agricultural laborers, share croppers,

fishermen, those engaged in animal

husbandry, beedi rolling, labeling and packing,

building and construction workers,

leather workers, weavers, artisans, salt

workers, workers in brick kilns and stone quarries, workers in saw mills, oil mills etc. come under

this category.

Nature of employment

Attached agricultural

laborers, bonded laborers, migrant workers,

contract and casual laborers

come under this.

Specially distressed categories

Toddy tappers, Scavengers,

Carriers of head loads, Drivers of

animal driven vehicles,

Loaders and unloaders come

under this category.

Service categories

Midwives, Domestic workers,

Fishermen and women, Barbers,

Vegetable and fruit vendors, News paper vendors etc.

belong to this category.

*Poor socio economic conditions at work place(occupational hazard).

* Low or irregular wages or income(mainly on daily basis).

* Sometimes the workers are not paid(mostly child labor).

* Lack of financial and health care.

* Problems in attaining alternative employment.

* Mismanagement of data(concerning the workers and their jobs) : no culture of systematic compilation

of data structure.

* Difficult to identify unorganized workes since they are not registered.

* The existing social security legislations cover only 8% of the total work force(as per NSSO).

* Inadequate and ineffective labour laws and standards relating to the unorganized sector.

PROBLEM STATEMENTS

SOLUTIONS

Financial security

• Benefits for family education.

• Help in the case of hazards.

• Compensation for maternity leaves.

Medical security

• Quick response team for emergency cases.

• Aid in the interim period during the treatment

Moral security

• Providing adequate food and shelter .(specially for female workers)

• Adequate amenities for young workers.(rag pickers)

Governing body consisting of IAS

officers(Supervises all the sub committees)

Investigating committee(Identifies

unorganized sector and keeps records of workers)

Research scholars( unemployed youth, young interns)

Medical committee(to provide immediate health care and maintain proper

sanitation standards at their work places)

Volunteers and doctors

Officials( professionals of logistics and statistics) to

keep track of the funding(government

funds and NGO funds)

IMPLEMENTATION

Investigating committee

Identifies unorganized labor distribution in each sector

through thorough questionnaire of the people

and drawing up their monthly incomes, expenditures and

savings.

Encouraging these people to register their names in the governing body. Once they

register, their financial condition will be recorded in an account created in the name of their FAMILY. The Government will then provide monthly aid to

respective accounts to help them build their family through

investment of this money in education and other sectors.

Medical Committee

A helpline will be provided to call the medical team on an emergency. The quick response team provided under the medical committee will

provide immediate help to the worker.

During the time the worker is under treatment, the supervising

committee(looking after the flow of money)will allow medical aid to the

worker till he gets fit again and resumes work.

Another team of volunteers will provide and maintain basic sanitation standards in work places to eliminate

occupational hazards.

Supervising committee of

officials

A team of professionals of logistics and statistics( mainly from ISI’s) will look after the various transactions regarding money in case of medical

emergencies and also in normal working days, i.e. it will keep track of

daily flow of money of the worker.

Awareness through social networking websites to sensitize common people towards this work force by active participation of members of the social sites.

Healthcare facilities

• Sanitation-Rs.1crore

• Medicine-Rs.4crores

Logistics and transportation

• Rs.1crore

Organization cost

• Research scholars-Rs.20lakhs

• Young interns-Rs.30lakhs

FUNDING AND EXPENSES REQUIRED

Technology cost

• Education fund-( govt. schools)

• Emergency fund-Rs.50lakhs

• Maternity fund-Rs.70lakhs

Increase in employment of youth and income for part time workers

Security to the Below Poverty Line people by government aid and a

guarantee of regular work instead of depending on scattered jobs.

Organized management of resources like manforce,skilled

force, drain of financial resources will be prevented by proper care of the supervising committee. Proper

Sanitation conditions at working place.

Check harassment faced by young unorganized workers like rag

pickers.

Advantages

Social, Political and Economic Challenges

Reluctance of workers to register for the scheme

Not much help expected from private sectors as they would

always look to hire less paid manual force

Management of so many officials and

volunteers can be a tiresome task

Providing physical

security of workers

from goons can be a

challenge

Conclusion

• The informal work sector occupies around 90% of the workforce and contributes to 50% of the economy of the country. Hence, it is our duty to give important recognition to this work force in order to provide them with basic amenities of food, shelter, finance, etc. We should ensure that they live under an umbrella of moral, financial, and medical benefits to boost their work sector which would ultimately benefit the economy of the country.

http://labour.nic.in/annrep/files2k1/lab8.pdf

http://wiego.org/sites/wiego.org/files/resources/files/dw_taskforce_report.pdf

http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploretopics/employing-workers

http://cadmus.eui.eu/bitstream/handle/1814/6448/ECO-2006-35.pdf

BIBLIOGRAPHY

REFERENCE

http://planningcommission.nic.in/aboutus/committee/wrkgrp11/wg11_rplabr.pdf

http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2010-11/estat1.pdf

http://labour.nic.in/annrep/annrep0304/english/chapter06.pdf

http://pblabour.gov.in/pdf/acts_rules/maternity_benefit_act_1961.pdf