Eleventh Five Year Plan

Nutrition and Social Safety Net 155loans for upgrading skills, loans for housing, children’seducation, etc. shall be tailored to meet the socialsecurity concerns of workers qua workers in the unorganized/informal sector, subject to the availability ofresources. The National Old Age Pension presentlycovers persons who are destitute and old aged. SomeStates cover the old aged BPL persons. NSAP wouldbe made more comprehensive.4.2.29 Considering the achievements made by theESIC and the EPFO in providing institutionalizedsocial security cover to a majority of the workers inthe organized sector, attempt would be made to widentheir coverage and strengthen them. To cover morenumber of beneficiaries, measures should be taken toenhance the capability of these institutions to cope withthe workload. To reduce harassment and corruptionin these institutions, the government will strive tostreamline the delivery system in these institutions.4.2.30 A national policy for fixing minimum wageswould be crystallized and made effective. Discriminationin wages based on gender and age would beabolished/penalized. The recovery of minimum wageswould be simplified and be equated with recovery dueof land revenue. An information network will also bebuilt to promote awareness, to educate employers(some of whom do alternate as wage labour too), andto prevent malpractices (perpetrated by design or byignorance) with the help of the media, NGOs, andPRIs.4.2.31 Assigning an identity to the beneficiary is anessential condition to create empowerment to lay aclaim to what one is expected to receive. The NationalSocial Security Numbers schemes shall be extended toall citizens in the country, so that the most vulnerablepeople who need it the most, including migrant labourand nomads could use it. In fact, considering that suchpersons do not even get the rations under the PDS,which is an important social security measure, thisexercise will be taken up urgently.