Eleventh Five Year Plan

150 Eleventh Five Year Planinvalidity, and old age. In the Eleventh Plan socialsecurity will be treated as an inclusive concept that alsocovers housing, safe drinking water, sanitation, health,educational, and cultural facilities for the society atlarge. It is necessary to ensure living wages, distinctfrom the concept of minimum wages, which can guaranteethe workers a decent life. A number of schemesimplemented by the government, both in the ruraland urban areas seek to provide many services thatsupplement incomes of the people, which otherwiseare fairly low.CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISION4.2.4 Articles 39(a) and 41 of the constitution requirethat the State should within the limits of its economiccapacity, make effective provision for securing the rightto work, to education, and to public assistance in caseof unemployment, old age, sickness, and disablement.Though social security is not viewed as a fundamentalright, Article 42 requires that the State should makeprovision for securing just and humane conditionsof work and for maternity relief. Article 43 statesthat States shall endeavour to secure to all workers—agricultural, industrial, or otherwise, a living wage,such conditions of work that ensure a decent standardof life. Article 47 requires that the State should, asits primary duty, raise the level of nutrition and thestandard of living of its people and improve publichealth.LEGISLATIVE SUPPORT4.2.5 Currently, there are contributory and noncontributorysocial security laws in our country.The contributory laws are those that provide forfinancing of the social security programmes bycontributions paid by workers and employers andin some cases supplemented by contribution/grantsfrom the government. The important contributoryschemes include the Employees State InsuranceAct, 1948 and the Provident Fund, Pension andDeposit linked insurance schemes framed underEmployees Provident Funds and MiscellaneousProvisions Act, 1952. The major non-contributorysocial security measures are provided for underthe Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923, the MaternityBenefit Act, 1961, and the Payment of GratuityAct, 1972.EXISTING SOCIAL SECURITY SCENARIO4.2.6 The existing social security system in Indiaexhibits diverse characteristics. There are a large numberof schemes, administered by different agencies,each scheme designed for a specific purpose andtarget group of beneficiaries, floated as they are by theCentral and State Governments as well as by VO inresponse to their own perceptions of needs, of the particulartime. The result is often ambiguous. Many atime some scheme(s) might be responsible for creating‘exclusion’ of the large number of those ‘in mostcritical need for support from the planning process’,on grounds of practicability or to protect the interestsof those who are already ‘in’. There are wide gaps incoverage (a large population is still uncovered underany scheme) and overlapping of benefits (a section ofthe population is covered under two or more schemes).In the existing system, coverage varies from scheme toscheme, with different groups of people receivingdifferent types of benefits. In other words, no one isinsured against all risks of life.4.2.7 Over the years, both Central and State Governmentshave been taking initiatives for the welfare andsocial security of the workers in the unorganizedsector. The Ministry of Labour and Employment isimplementing welfare schemes for certain categoriesof unorganized sector workers like beedi workers, cineworkers, and certain non-coal mine workers. Similarly,several insurance/poverty alleviation schemes arebeing implemented by various ministries/departments,as well as by States like Kerala and Tamil Nadu, whichhave constituted Welfare Funds for some occupationalgroups. Some States have launched group insuranceschemes for their workers. Yet, some States likeWest Bengal initiated State-Assisted Provident FundSchemes for the unorganized workers.WORKERS WITH INSTITUTIONALIZEDSOCIAL SECURITY COVER4.2.8 The organized sector includes primarily thoseestablishments that are covered by the Factories Act,1948, the Shops and Establishments Acts of the States,Industrial Employment Standing Orders Act, 1946, etc.This sector already has a structure through whichsocial security benefits are extended to its workers.While some of them such as Provident Fund, pension,