Despite having access to the government’s social security programmes, a large number of people fail to lead a dignified life. There are many more who are worse off – trapped by poverty, deprivation – and face social exclusion. This raises questions about the way the country has followed its principle of a welfare state, an idea integral to the Constitution of India.
The preamble to the Constitution lays down the framework of a government which offers to its people various security to enable them to live a dignified life. Article 41 of Directive Principles of the State Policy asks the states, “within the limits of its economic capacity and development” to make effective provision for securing the right to work, to education and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement, and in other cases of undeserved want.”
Article 42 says the state shall make provisions for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity benefits. Ever since independence, India has had many programmes designed to provide social security to people – addressing their needs for food, pension, health and even employment.
We had a Targeted Public Distribution Policy, for instance, which guaranteed those below the poverty line highly subsidised food grains and kerosene. A Mid Day Meal programme offered food to school children while programmes like National Old Age Pension Scheme and National Maternity Benefit Scheme offered support to the poor, elderly and women.
While these were Central government-supported national-level schemes, many states also introduced their own social security programmes. Odisha’s Madhubabu Pension programme covers over two million poor beneficiaries who are old, destitutes, widows and differently abled.
Despite a plethora of programmes, the country could not substantially reduce its number of poor or those who were in needs of state’s assistance. Either we spend a little too less — India spends 1.4 per cent of its GDP on social protection, which is among the lowest in Asia — or we design bad. Critics say the social security programmes may have been fragmented, their coverage limited in terms of both workers and contingencies, and their delivery ineffective.
Little wonder, despite substantial economic growth over the decades, we continue to have a poverty level of 30 per cent. Sadly, a large chunk of workforce - about 93 per cent of total in India — work in the informal sector and any kind of social security continues to elude them.
Imperatives of growth
In this backdrop, it may be time to revisit the approach and opt for universal measures to ensure better social protection cover for all. This is critical in view of the new imperatives of development in the age of globalisation where it is felt that people should get adequate social guarantees to enable them deal with life’s risks.
The Social Protection Floor (SPF), which is a joint UN campaign and is anchored by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), may be the way forward for better social security framework. The SPF is “sets of basic social security guarantees to secure protection aimed at preventing or alleviating poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion.” It corresponds to a set of basic social rights and services to ensure effective access to essential health care and basic income security throughout the life cycle.
According to the ILO, it should comprise four basic guarantees including access to essential health care, including maternity care; basic income security for children, providing access to nutrition, education, care and any other necessary goods and services; basic income security for persons in active age who are unable to earn sufficient income, in particular in cases of sickness, unemployment, maternity and disability; and basic income security for older persons.
The recent announcements by Prime Minister Narendra Modi – especially the three-tier social security schemes – Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, Atal Pension Yojana, and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, though contributory – is a positive step towards universal coverage of social security provisions as it aims to cover all, with focus on poor and vulnerable people.
Odisha, with over 50 social security programmes and a sharp focus on providing protection to almost all who need it, is a good example of universalising access to social security, a key ideal of Social Protection Floor.
(The writer is with Fijeeha, a development communication forum)