Govt to reconsider social security Bill

The government is re-looking at the Unorganised Sector Workers' Social Security Bill in the light of the recommendations of a parliamentary standing committee.

While almost all political parties on the committee, including the Congress, have unanimously backed the recommendations, there has been an invisible wall of resistance. The government is yet to respond to the changes suggested in the Bill even as the Parliament session is drawing closer.

But last week, Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes decided to invite the chairman of the Standing Committee, Sudhakar Reddy, for fresh rounds of talks on the Bill, which aims to provide social security to 4 million people in the unorganised sector.

The first round of talks was held on June 23.

The issue over which the government, specifically the finance ministry, is unable to see eye to eye with the standing committee is the huge expenses for the Bill as well as the powers to be given to the district- and state-level committees that will implement the scheme.

The Bill, if implemented, would entail an expense of Rs 1 lakh crore. Of this, only a small portion will be borne by the government, says Reddy.

The Planning Commission earmarked Rs 15,000 crore for the unorganised sector in the 11th Plan but the finance ministry has not allocated the amount, Reddy said. Instead, the ministry wants to shift the job of providing social security to private agencies and insurance companies, he added.

The government had suggested that the law should be implemented through advisory councils rather than the empowered administrative councils proposed by the standing committee.

The Bill is expected to benefit 160 million workers from the unorganised sector and 240 million agriculture workers.

Apart from the unanimity of most political parties on the need for the law, what may force the government to pass the legislation early is the criticism it received from the United Nations recently over its failure to keep its commitments to the UN Economic and Social Council.

In its remarks on the government's periodic report on the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, submitted after a 15-year delay, it lists the things it is concerned about in India.

"The committee is concerned that, pending the adoption by Parliament of the Unorganised Sector Worker's Social Security Bill, workers, a majority of whom are employed in the unorganised/informal sector, do not currently benefit from state-administered social security protection."