The number of landless agricultural labourers in the country rose to 14.43 crore in 2011 from 10.67 crore in 2001, Parliament was informed today.
"The number of landless agricultural workers in India as per Census 2001 was 10.67 crore and as per Census 2011 it was 14.43 crore," Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.
For welfare of unorganised workers including sugarcane workers, the government has enacted Unorganised Workers' Social Security Act, 2008, besides various schemes to provide social security cover, he added.
In a separate query, the Minister informed the House that registration, identification and issuance of smart card/U-WIN card to unorganised workers has come under the purview of the respective state/UT governments as per the Unorganised Workers' Social Security Act, 2008.
"However, the government has proposed a unified IT based platform for delivery of the services available under various social security schemes," Dattatreya added.
The proposal is being reviewed on the basis of remarks/ comments received from various stakeholders, he said.
"In view of near universal coverage of Aadhaar, the government is now working on a policy on delivery of various public services using Aadhaar, Jan Dhan Yojana account and existing platform without issuance of smart card/U-WIN card," the Minister added.
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Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatreya provided the information to the Rajya Sabha today in reply to a question raised by independent Rajya Sabha MP Parimal Nathwani.
Nathwani released this data (provided by the minister) to the media here in Vadodara.
There are 14.43 crore landless agriculture workers in the country and Uttar Pradesh tops the list with 1.99 crore such labourers, followed by Bihar.
"Gujarat accounts for 68.39 lakh landless agriculture workers (as per the 2011 census), which stood at 51.61 lakh in 2001 census. The highest 1.99 crore landless workers are in Uttar Pradesh, followed by Bihar with 1.83 crore. Both these states witnessed addition of 65.38 lakh and 49.27 lakh landless agriculture workers respectively between 2001 and 2011," the statement added.
"Interestingly, the number of landless agriculture workers has gone down in Kerala, Goa, Pondicherry, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, and Daman & Diu," it added.
Under the Unorganised Workers Social Security Act, the central government spent Rs 5,721.42 crore in 2014-15, the minister was quoted as saying.
"I wanted to know about the comparative increase in the number of landless agricultural labourers/ workers in the country, the details of the schemes run by the Government to provide social security to the landless agricultural labourers and unorganised workers in the country, including the funds allotted for the purpose, and the details of the other schemes being implemented for the welfare and upliftment of such workers...," Nathwani said in the release.
In 2014-15, the government spent Rs 5,721.42 crore under nine schemes, formulated by the Government to provide social security cover to the unorganised workers.
"These schemes are: Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme, National Family Benefit Scheme, Janani Suraksha Yojana, Handloom Weavers' Comprehensive Welfare Scheme, Handicraft Artisans' Comprehensive Welfare Scheme, Pension to Master Craft Persons, National Scheme for Welfare of Fishermen and Training and Extension, Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana and Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana," said the statement.
