Social Protection

Comprehensive Social Protection

The Government of India legislated the Code on Social Security 2020 ‘with the goal to extend social security to all employees and workers either in the organised or unorganised or any other sectors’. However, in reality, the Code continues to statutorily discriminate between organised and unorganised. We insist that this Code be made to guarantee universality and equity of social protection to all workers. Such a guarantee is well supported by, for example, ILO Convention 102 which may be supplemented by a National Social Protection Floor constituted in line with the ILO’s Recommendation 202 as ‘nationally defined sets of basic social security guarantees which secure protection aimed at preventing or alleviating poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion’.

Comprehensive Social Health Protection

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the dismal state of India’s public health system. As is the norm, the marginalized unorganized workers and their families face catastrophic consequences of a poorly funded and ill-maintained system. We insist that a good public health system and social health protection for workers in India be taken up as a priority concern.
The country already has a comprehensive social health protection programme in the Employees’ State Insurance Scheme (ESIS). We demand that the ESIS be extended to all workers without exclusionary eligibility thresholds, in a time-bound manner. At the same time, we emphasize that the benefit package for unorganized workers be at par with that for the organized sector workers. Further, as is in the ESI Act 1948, social health protection be recognized as a legally protected right of all workers irrespective of the nature of their employment or livelihood.
To this end, we exhort the government to incorporate the coverage of all unorganized workers in the Social Security Code Rules currently being drafted. Further, the government or the concerned industry must pay the employer’s contribution where individual employers cannot be identified. We make it clear that we do not aspire for equity at the cost of unity – so expansion of coverage must not imply any erosion whatsoever, of benefits and entitlements of existing or new beneficiaries. New risk pools and cross-subsidies should be designed through democratic consultations with all stakeholders.

We demand that the implementation of the Social Security Code 2020 provide for a clear and accountable institutional arrangement guaranteeing a gender-equitable, universal Social Protection Floor consisting of health and medical care coverage; pension; provident fund and gratuity; sickness, injury, disability and death compensations; maternity benefit; unemployment allowance; social housing benefit; and food security. The government must additionally strengthen and universalize the Integrated Child Development Services to promote equal opportunity for women to participate in the labour market.
We propose that this demand be met through harmonious integration of existing social protection and social assistance programmes like the Employees’ State Insurance Scheme, Employees’ Provident Fund, sectoral welfare boards and other central and state level programmes, as is the expounded goal of the Social Security Code.
The recent pandemic illustrated the need for protection of income for all workers in the urban centres. WPC advocates guarantee of income and employment for urban workers on the lines of Kerala’s Ayyankali Urban Employment Scheme that has been running for almost a decade. Himachal Pradesh, Orissa and Jharkhand have also introduced state-level employment guarantee schemes, which while being important steps forward, still remain limited in scope and intent. A comprehensive social safety net on these lines is a clear imperative.
In the interest of transparency, accountability and time-bound implementation, we demand that the concerned governments set up robust tripartite facilitation and monitoring mechanisms with due representation of unorganized workers.

Universalize ESI Provisions for all Workers!

A Nationwide Appeal

We the members of Working Peoples’ Coalition (WPC) demand the immediate extension of Employees’ State Insurance Act (ESI) provisions to all E-Shram cardholders & registered unorganised workers (to begin with).

Few months ago the Union Labour Ministry informed the Parliament that at least, 6,500 employees died on duty at factories, ports, mines, and construction sites in the last 5 years with over 80% of the fatalities reported in factory settings. The actual figures could be higher as many incidents are not reported or recorded. The COVID-19 pandemic has also demonstrated that ‘decent work’ is impossible without safe and healthy worksites. Between 2017 and 2020, three people died and 11 were injured each day, on average, due to accidents in India’s registered factories, as per data from the Ministry of Labour & Employment’s Directorate General Factory Advice Service & Labour Institutes (DGFASLI), accessed in November 2022 through a Right to Information (RTI) request. As many as 3,331 deaths were recorded between 2018 and 2020, but only 14 people were imprisoned for offences under the Factories Act, 1948 during the same period, these data show.

Out-of-pocket expenditure on health as a result of virtually non-existent health insurance coverage, unfair pricing mechanism, and weak public health system are the main reasons for the health miseries of workers in India. Among Asian countries, India had seen the highest medical inflation rate in 2021 of 14%, followed by China (12%) and Indonesia (10%). Currently, out of the 54 crore workforce in India, those in government and public sector enterprises, who are covered under social security, are only about 3%. Other than government and public sector employees, only about 11% of the total workforce is covered under social security schemes.

It is high time to demand structural and institutional changes in our governance system in the context of healthcare as the poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer due to the paramount costs of healthcare in the country. We need enhanced legal safeguards and mechanisms for the social protection, health and safety for all workers which include prevention, treatment including emergency medical treatment, elective treatment and general counseling, as well as control of diseases.

Continuing Apathy

The recurrence of serious tragic incidents every month clearly indicates the scale of evasion in workplace compliances. Sadly worksite violations continue to remain a constant chronic feature of worker life in India. Moreover, in all such incidents neither the principal employer/contractor nor the labour officers, who grant permissions to unsafe worksites, are prosecuted. This has resulted in lack of accountability and the employers going scot-free by paying a meager compensation and brazenly continuing with poor standards of working conditions.

Interconnected Demands to the Union Government:

Amend the ESI Act and include all E-Shram registered workers by removing all the threshold limits including wage ceiling to avoid exclusion of workers
Ensure strict enforcement of standard safety norms in all establishments irrespective of sizes. Ensure strict monitoring and regulatory responsibilities.
Ensure strict criminal prosecutions including the principal employers when incidents related to violation of worker safety and health occur at worksites
Ensure immediate fixation of the ‘National Minimum Wage’ for determining social protection benefits based on Dr. Anoop Satpathy Committee recommendations
Financial aspects and budgetary allocations must be clearly spelled out. For the subsistence wage workers the contribution should come from the governments.
‘Social Protection Floor’ among other dimensions should also include ESI benefits, EPF benefits, maternity benefits, and all other essential human wellbeing benefits.
Registration of all unorganized workers should be completed on a time-bound manner.
Ensure establishment of separate dedicated sector specific welfare boards for each category forming a substantial number of unorganized workers

The WPC seeks the support and solidarity of all workers organizations, trade unions and civil society groups to this campaign for universal social protection, worksite safety and health security.

A WPC petition seeking expansion of ESI benefits on behalf of several trade unions and workers organizations has be submitted to the Office of Prime Minister (PMO), the Office of Chief Ministers (CMO) of several states, the Office of Governors of few Union Territories, and various ministries of both Union and federal governments.

To speed up the acceptance and implementation of this demand for ESI rights, various workers led movements and advocacies are being expedited across the country. The WPC would also facilitate multi-track dialogue processes between workers organizations, government institutions and various stakeholders to initiate the realization of ESI Rights for all informal workers at the earliest.

Looking forward to your active participation, solidarity and support!

ESI PROTECTION FOR ALL WORKERS!

LEAVE NO WORKER BEHIND!!

Please join the coaltion!

Comprehensive Social Protection