Editorial: Widen social security net

e-Shram portal needs to be followed by restructuring social security and social protection programmes

While there are strong indications that the economy is slowly returning to the pre-pandemic level, the plight of informal workers, who form a major chunk of the workforce, continues to be a matter of concern. The deep-seated vulnerability of the workers in the informal sector, including migrants, was thoroughly exposed during the pandemic and is closely linked to the level of recovery of private consumption and investment. Official data shows that employment is yet to recover. The employment-population ratio for the period May-August ’21 was 36.8% and the unemployment rate for both rural and urban areas is still considerably higher. The consumer sentiment survey by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy also shows that most households perceived their current incomes as lower than their incomes two years ago. While the e-Shram portal, launched by the Central government for registering informal workers and circular migrants, is a welcome initiative, it needs to be followed by simplifying and restructuring social security and social protection programmes. Identification and registration of workers mark the first stage in the long and arduous task of creating a social security structure for the unorganised labour. Ensuring universal social protection, as enshrined in the Constitution, must be the focus of public policy. This calls for both emergency short-term measures and effective long-term measures. The emergency requirements, prompted by the pandemic, led the Supreme Court to order a time-bound inclusive and universal registration system for informal workers and circular migrants in May this year. The e-Shram portal is meant to fulfil this mandatory requirement.

The portal has so far registered more than 120 million workers. It also captures the migration status of workers, though with very scanty information. The problem arises largely due to the absence of credible data in the country on the migrant workforce. For years, successive governments have failed to identify them and meet their immediate needs quickly. This meant that no meaningful policy intervention could reach them during the time of acute distress. Despite the lofty intentions, several pro-poor policy initiatives in India fail to yield the desired results due to the absence of granular data. The Centre recently pledged its commitment to universal social protection and social security coverage for informal workers. This will involve moving away from the patchwork of existing schemes towards creating specific statutory entitlements for social security as well as creation of a well-designed and adequately funded social protection floor for all workers and families. However, the e-Shram portal merely lists the 13 existing social security and social protection schemes and six other employment generation schemes for which the registered workers could be eligible. Unless the social security net is widened, the real benefits will not flow. There is a need for increased spending on social security needs.

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