{"id":257218,"date":"2023-08-24T20:58:50","date_gmt":"2023-08-24T15:28:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=257218"},"modified":"2023-08-29T12:00:01","modified_gmt":"2023-08-29T06:30:01","slug":"needed-a-well-crafted-social-security-net-for-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/needed-a-well-crafted-social-security-net-for-all\/","title":{"rendered":"Needed, a well-crafted social security net for all"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Source<\/strong>: The post is based on articles\u00a0\u201c<\/strong>Needed, a well-crafted social security net for all<\/strong>\u201d published in The Hindu <\/strong>on\u00a024th<\/sup> August 2023<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Syllabus: <\/strong>GS 2 \u2013 Government Policies and Interventions for Development in various sectors and Issues arising out of their Design and Implementation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Relevance: <\/strong>concerns with<\/strong> social security schemes in India.<\/strong><\/p>\n

News:<\/strong> Social security in India has largely been ignored by the policymakers.\u00a0The article explains the measures needed to enhance social security schemes in India.<\/p>\n

What are the various findings of the data?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As per the Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2021-22<\/strong>, around 53% of India’s salaried workforce lacks social security benefits.<\/p>\n

Further, only 1.9% of the poorest 20% of workers enjoy any such social security benefits. Similarly, only around 1.3% of active labor force members, who are gig workers, have access to social security.<\/p>\n

India’s social security system is ranked very poorly, securing the 40th position out of 43 countries in Mercer CFS’s 2021 ranking.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What are the concerns with the existing social security benefits schemes?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The National Social Security Fund<\/strong> for unorganized sector workers began with \u20b91,000 crore, intended for workers like weavers and rickshaw pullers.<\/p>\n

However, this was insufficient compared to the required \u20b922,841 crore. Additionally, an audit by the CAG found \u20b91,927 crore unutilized.<\/p>\n

Similarly, the National Social Assistance Programme aimed<\/strong> to provide a \u20b975 monthly pension to elderly individuals without earners at home.<\/p>\n

However, the Centre’s contribution has remained at \u20b9200 monthly since 2006, lower than the daily minimum wage.<\/p>\n

Moreover, budget cuts have also impacted the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act along with other schemes.<\/p>\n

How is the social security scheme in Brazil?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Brazil’s General Social Security Scheme offers<\/strong> income for workers facing income loss from accidents, disabilities, death, medical leave, family duties, unemployment, or imprisonment. Accessing benefits is easier in Brazil.<\/p>\n

India, with around 91% of its workforce in the informal sector, also needs an accessible social security scheme like Brazil’s due to this large informal workforce.<\/p>\n

Must Read: <\/strong>Social security and the story of two Budgets<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

What steps can be taken by India to enhance its social security schemes?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

First,<\/strong> expanding employer and employee contributions within the Employees\u2019 Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) system for formal workers.<\/p>\n

Second,<\/strong> informal workers who earn a decent income could contribute a part of their earnings. This could motivate informal businesses to become more official and contribute more as well.<\/p>\n

Third,<\/strong> Code on Social Security in 2020<\/strong><\/a> and e-Shram<\/strong><\/a> platform are important measures taken for social security. However, e-Shram makes informal workers register themselves, without motivating employers to encourage registration.<\/p>\n

The Code on Social Security (2020) consolidated existing social security laws, primarily focusing on formal enterprises and did not cover informal ones.<\/p>\n

Fourth,<\/strong> there is a need to fund social security for India’s large workforce, beyond just construction and gig workers.<\/p>\n

This includes a nationwide labor card and expanding successful schemes to other types of workers. Special attention is also required for females and migrant workers.<\/p>\n

Fifth,<\/strong> Existing schemes like the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), Employees’ State Insurance Scheme (ESI), and National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) could be strengthened by increasing budgetary support and extending coverage.<\/p>\n

Administrative enhancements are also needed due to overlapping responsibilities between the State and Centre.<\/p>\n

Sixth,<\/strong> there is a need to raise awareness about social security benefits among workers. Organizations like the Self-Employed Women\u2019s Association, running worker facilitation centers, could receive funding to carry out campaigns, particularly for women.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source: The post is based on articles\u00a0\u201cNeeded, a well-crafted social security net for all\u201d published in The Hindu on\u00a024th August 2023. Syllabus: GS 2 \u2013 Government Policies and Interventions for Development in various sectors and Issues arising out of their Design and Implementation. Relevance: concerns with social security schemes in India. News: Social security in… Continue reading Needed, a well-crafted social security net for all<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[300,212],"class_list":["post-257218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-governance","tag-gs-paper-2","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257218\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}