1. Manthan topic:
PROTECTING THE VULNERABLE
Providing Social welfare to
Informal sector workers
A COMPOUND MODEL OF EXISTING, REJUVINATED AND
NEW UNITS FOR SOCIAL WELFARE OF THE INFORMAL
SECTOR
COLLEGE: DEHRADUN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY
PLACE: DEHRADUN
TEAM NAME: PANCH PATRIOTS
TEAM CO-ODINATOR: CHETAN MISHRA (B.TECH CSE-3RD YEAR)
MEMBERS: ANKITA SINGH (B.TECH CSE-3RD YEAR), ANKUR TIWARI (B.TECH CIVIL-3RD YEAR),
SAUMYA AGARWAL (B.TECH CSE-3RD YEAR) & ASHISH RAJ (B.TECH CSE-3RD YEAR)
2. Unorganized or informal sector constitutes a pivotal part of the Indian economy. More than 90 per cent of
workforce and about 50 per cent of the national product are accounted for by the informal economy. But
even today providing them with basic social security is a major problem.
They are still struggling for the basic rights that the “PREAMBLE” to the Constitution of India offers.
“ WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having
solemnly resolved to constitute
India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST
SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
and to secure to all its citizens:
JUSTICE, social, economic and
political;
LIBERTY, of thought, expression,
belief, faith and worship;
EQUALITY of status and of
opportunity;
and to promote among them all
FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of
the individual and the unity and
integrity of the Nation”
The Preamble to the Constitution
of India
JUSTICE: The population of the
informal sector are an easy prey
to the policemen and their
welfare has been least concern
of political parties since
decades.
LIBERTY: This sector has been
suppressed since a long time
and have been kept deprived
of their basic rights of
expression.
EQUALITY: The society
does not consider the
unorganized/labour class
as equals. The informal
sector has no way to
access the same
opportunities as the other
sectors of society.
FRATERNITY: This sect is
completely banished from
the so called ‘higher sects’ of
the society.
• The sector provides low wages which at times
are even less than the minimum wages
prescribed by the Government which makes
the life of the worker quite difficult.
• As organizations have small capital,
they are not able to provide proper
facilities at the work place leading to
health problems to the workers.
• The workers do not have any social security to
fall back in times of need.
• As the units do not have sufficient capital,
they usually resort to hiring of children as a
cheap labour .
• As these units are not covered under
any labour laws, employees do not have
facilities like PF and ESI which are
available to workers of the organized
sector.
• As the workers have low wages they are
not able to afford proper housing due to
which the migrant labour resorts to
living in slums. Incidentally, a number of
such informal units are located in slums.
Bigger slums like Dharavi house
thousands of such units.
• These units do not have proper waste
disposal facilities and hence are a cause
of environmental concerns.
• In some cases, particularly in rural and
tribal, this sector faces problems due to
depletion of resources like forests etc.
3. Ministry of Labours
and other Informal
Sectors
Office for Health
& Care for
Informal Sector
Office for
Education and
Advancement for
Informal Sector
Office for
Financial Support
for Informal
Sector
Office for Social
Security for
Informal Sector
Office of Statistics
and Resource
control
The structure to support our model is a compound one. We suggest a compound ministry as “Ministry of labours
and other Informal Sectors” by enhancing “The Ministry of Labour and Employment” that will deal with the
informal sector intensively by adding and/or modifying its existing attached and subordinate offices, autonomous
organizations, adjudicating bodies and arbitration bodies. The part of this structure that is a pre-requisite for the
social welfare of the informal sector is presented below:
These offices will not be stand-alone units. They will co-ordinate with each other and also with offices of other ministries to
provide a higher rate of success to the plan.
Example: Apart from deriving its own statistics, the office of statistics and policy control will co-ordinate with National
Statistical Commission ,Government of India.
Help from NGOs like NIDAN will be taken who have an existing network in states like Bihar, Rajasthan, Delhi, etc.
REASONS FOR SELECTING THIS CAUSE
The lack of comprehensive legislation to provide for minimum conditions of work for the informal
sector is a severe lacuna, sought to be addressed unsuccessfully over several decades. Moreover, this
topic covers other issues such as youth unemployment, exploitation of women, degrading health &
sanitation standards, etc. Hence is a very extensive topic to work on and solving this issue will result in
chain solutions of many other major problems.
4. This office is the pillar around which the other offices will sustain. Major issues of funding, manpower, statistical records
and public records(informal sector) will fall under the duties of this office.
FUNDS
•Government funds will be used initially for different purposes like health insurance, loans,
managing manpower, keeping records and providing basic infrastructure to the ministry.
•Fund raising events will seldom be organized for different philanthropists to help us with our
cause.
• Organizing public fund raising for the common people to help the informal sector in rising up.
MANPOWER
•Retired military officials and activists will be hired to manage high official posts in the offices.
•People with experience in relation to the informal sector will also be hired to interact, test(in
cases of loans and insurance) and work for the informal sector.
•Existing workforce of the labor ministry can also be used.
•Volunteers will be welcomed to join the workforce, especially NGOs to join hands with the
government. Also self-help groups will be formed within the informal worker’s communities.
RECORDS
•A national database for the unorganized sector will be created as “National Database for
Informal Sector(NDIS)” through a national census conducted specially for informal sector.
•Forms will have to be filled on the centers to register in NDIS which will contain detailed
information like family details, skills, employment details, health issues,etc along with the
common details of the person.
•Every person will be assigned a unique ID and every family will also be provided a unique ID.
•NDIS will be accessible by every office as per their needs.
•Yearly statistical records will be maintained with the help of ‘National Statistical Commission”.
5. Ensuring employment to the unemployed workers
• Risks involved in migration demands different kind of social security, hence we will use the database provided by office of statistics and
policy control & monitor changes in nature of work & other aspects. Now the employer can simply demand the quantity of workers & skills
required and we can look into our database and forward the details of workers who are idle & possess the required skill & hence generate
employment amongst those who are unemployed.
• This will also help the workers to unite & bargain.
Protecting workers from being exploited & spreading awareness
• We will ensure that the micro enterprises operate on legally organized land with the right of ownership so that municipal regulatory
standards are applicable to them & they are not deprived of basic needs. Also this saves them from the illegal money extraction by police &
others.
• Work of women in unorganized sector is undocumented & considered disguised wage work & the wages paid are not according to the work.
We will form a subordinate office where the officials will keep a strict check on any such case reported by a worker.
• In the various awareness seminars we hold all over India, we will make unorganized workers acquainted with the importance for sanitation
& proper use of the facilities being provided to them under office of health & care.
Providing clean water & food
• Recently the IIT Madras research has devised an affordable method(a prototype)for purifying water( at just Rs.10-12 per month for family of
five), using silver nano particles. We will boost such creative minds through various tech contests & use the technology hence provide clean
water to the unorganized sector workers.
• Effective implementation of National food security bill(NFSB) & Public Distribution System(PDS) so that we can provide food to the
unorganized sector without putting any extra burden on the government as this will be that food that gets wasted on daily basis.
Raising Social Security Trust Funds & assigning old workers a suitable task
• We will raise social security trust funds(much like Alaska permanent fund dividend & New Zealand superannuation) & have fund raising
events from time to time, encouraging various philanthropists, and use them for the betterment of unorganized workers.
• Requirement for social security significantly rises due to old age or disability of workers who are the only source of income in their family.
We will give such people a one month training & recruit them in our community centre under the office of health & care.
6. Ensuring financial security and transparency & bridging the gap between
organized and unorganized sector
•Considering the informal sector 70% do not have a bank account and 87% have no access to
credit from a formal source. In order to provide adequate finance at a reasonable rate in a
transparent manner we will develop more customized as well as flexible loan products in
coordination with the Office of statistics and resource control which will provide us with Funds
followed by the case-wise check with the help of NDIS through this we can have a proper
filtering process to filter out false loan demands. This scheme will in turn help them come
closer to organized sector and feel confident and respected. Once the informal sector prosper
they may contribute in paying the taxes and helping the country and themselves in return.
Specially designed insurance scheme
•We will also hire private insurance companies on bidding basis to provide insurance to micro
enterprises, home based worker, self employed worker or wage worker for their financial
stability. In this model government will provide (75-90) % premium and rest will be given by
beneficiaries or state government (if possible). These companies will work on target basis. If
target is complete then money will be passed else not. This ensures fast and effective coverage
of informal sector in our “Sampoorna anaupcharik chetra suraksha beeme yojana”.
Pension coverage for the Informal sector
•The informal sector contributes a major amount to the GDP. Being such a major contributor
government will ensure that next five year’s plan theme is “Upliftment” of informal sector with
provision of pension fund (PF).Our concept of existing PF plan will act as pension plan for them.
They will be provided with increased rate of interest. There saved money will be provided to
them on monthly basis after they are unfit for working.
7. Multipurpose home based community care centre
• Complete ‘health and care’ for the informal sector will revolve around these care centers.
• “Block” in India is an important geographical unit at local level. Hence, there will be two community centers at either ends of
each block to ensure maximum and efficient participation of informal sectors clusters.
• They will ensure:
• Provisions for basic sanitation through grass root level organizations and community services.
• Establish a link between first-aid and prevention of accidents at work site’s level.
• Extend health coverage with the support of general public, dealing with both occupational and general health care at district
and local level.
Health education
• Talks to emphasize reinforcing virtues of health seeking behavior.
• Condom distribution to ensure family planning, prevention of STDs and reduce the financial burden on families.
• Awareness campaigns by efficient use of national and local media.
• Local women have been found well versed in the traditional ways of health and care. Therefore these women will be encouraged
and trained to apply inexpensive and traditional methods to ensure prevention and cure of diseases. Thus thereby keeping with
culture and ‘Sanskars’ of India.
Home based and accessible medical aid
• ‘Informal health care practitioners’(retired doctors/doctors working with associated NGOs) will be deployed to visit and check
the patients at their clusters at regular interval of time(say 15 days).
• Improvement of existing transportation and communication services to ensure effective connectivity and accessibility of the
unorganized sector to major hospitals.
• Government aided health insurance will be provided after proper identification of the people in informal sector as “Asanghatit
Chetra Swasthya Beema Yojana”.
Co-ordinating with Office for Education and Advancement for Informal Sector these issues will be dealt with:
8. HELP FROM STUDENTS
•Voluntary service organizations (VSOs) will be
launched in colleges allowing students to
understand and educate the local informal strata.
•They will also help us provide statistics of the
local cluster belonging to this sector.
•They will make social tours to these clusters
regularly.
•In return they will get incentives like certificates
via the government which will signify that they
are adhering to their social responsibilities.
CIVIC HELP
•Local clubs that have better understanding of
their locality and prevalent informal strata
existing there will help the government to
make them aware and literate.
• NGOs acting at grass root level that are
aligned with the ministry will help these
sectors with issues of domestic violence,
women abuse, child labour, etc.
GOVERNMENT
• Government school teachers (esp. BTC teachers coz they have least burden) will be visiting the informal
sector clusters to teach them. These teachers will be initially trained in community centers established
at block levels and will be given suitable incentives.
• Education camps will be organized on monthly basis in community centers. Here education about
loans, banking and enhancement of skills will be provided to them so that they can have a better
future.
• Helpline numbers will be distributed in the informal clusters for 24*7 help.
• Funding involved in spreading the education will be directly linked with the office
9. CHALLENGES
The informal sector is a geographically widespread
sector, hence difficult to reach.
It is generally difficult to differentiate between genuine
requests for financial help and non-genuine ones.
Keeping informal sector workers aware, their children
educated and monitoring them becomes difficult due to
their frequency of migration from one place to another.
Success of any scheme depends on the trust between
the sector in need of support and the organization
providing it. Due to so many inefficient schemes that
haven't yet been able to give the result they promised,
it has become difficult to make the informal sector trust
any new organization or policies.
MITIGATION
An integrated army of government workers, NGOs,
activists, students and volunteers will help us come
over this difficulty .
The concept of NDIS introduced will help us to keep
check on the real conditions of the requester and hence
determine the genuineness. Also a team of ‘case
inspectors’ will check each case before granting
financial help.
We will make it mandatory for the migrating clusters to
inform their mini-centers near them whenever they
migrate. Further, these centers will inform the center at
the migrating place and exchange information on the
migrating cluster.
We will hold multiple seminars & Interactive sessions
with the informal workers where representatives from
their own clusters will ensure that they trust in our
schemes & hence mutual efforts by organization &
informal sector contribute to the success of the
scheme.
11. Criteriatomeasureimpactofsolution
•Our impact of
solution will be
seen directly in
the rise of
collection of
taxes,
employment of
youth, and the
overall increase
in GDP of the
nation.
•Our organized
approach will
eradicate the
bug of
corruption and
help us to
optimize the
resources.
Scalabilityofsolution
•Our program
covers a vast
and important
sector of the
society i.e. the
informal sector.
•A work will be
done entirely
with close
association by
local
communities
and
beneficiaries.
•Each group of
informal sector
will be focused
upon in our
program.
Sustainabilityofsolution
•Our model
contributes
overall growth
of informal
sector and
bridges gap
between
manufacturing
and services i.e.
organized and
unorganized
sector.
•Our programs
are long lasting
and effective
because our
approach is
realistic and
idealistic.
Ourmonitorymechanism
•A coordinated
and hierarchical
approach to our
ministry will
provide us with
control over the
subdivided
offices .
•Each scheme
will be brought
under the office
of CAG and the
proper audited
report will be
used for further
action.
12. •Human Resource and Skill Requirements in the Unorganised
Sector by National Skill Development corporation
•Growth Pole Programme For Unorganised Sector Enterprise
Development-NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR ENTERPRISES IN
THE UNORGANISED SECTOR April,2009
•Report of the Committee on Unorganised Sector Statistics by
National Statistical Commission,Government of India-February
2012
•The unorganised sector in India-Tomy Jacob
