Legislation, Social

Protection and Policy UNIT 2 IMPORTANT LEGISLATIONS AND

LANDMARK JUDGMENTS
Saumya Uma

Structure

2.1 Introduction
2.2 Objectives
2.3 The Constitutional Framework
2.4 Judicial Enforcement of Socio-economic Rights
2.5 Laws Protecting Workers Rights
2.6 Gender-Specific Facilities at the Workplace
2.7 Social Protection Measures for Workers
2.7.1 Organized Sector
2.7.2 Unorganized Sector

2.8 Landmark Judgements on Women at Work

2.9 Right to Education
2.10 Food and Nutrition Security
2.11 Let Us Sum Up
2.12 References
2.13 Suggested Readings

2.1 INTRODUCTION
India, being a welfare state, has enacted several laws, policies, programmes
and schemes that seek to ensure social protection to impoverished,
marginalized and underprivileged persons. The courts too have interpreted
these laws, thereby expanding their meaning, scope and effectiveness in
implementation. This Unit seeks to give an overview of various laws, policies
and landmark judgments on the issue of social protection for women and
girls.

2.2 OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this Unit are to:

• Explain the Constitutional provisions on social protection;

• Discuss various laws and policies on aspects related to social protection

• Analyse the governmental efforts in securing social protection for the

organized and unorganized sectors of the working force;

322
• Illustrate the importance of such laws, policies and schemes with a Important Legislations
and Landmark
special reference to women and girls; and Judgements

• Discuss various judgments on aspects of social protection and their

beneficial value in making social protection a reality.

Let us read about constitutional frame work that guides social protection
in India.

2.3 THE CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK

The Preamble

The Constitution of India, in its Preamble, reflects the resolve of the Indian
state to secure to all its citizens social, economic and political justice, as
well as equality of status and of opportunity.

Fundamental Rights

Part III of the Constitution guarantees fundamental rights to all persons.

These include the right to life (Article 21) and the right to equality before
law and equal protection of the laws (Article 14). The right to equality is
followed by a prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race,
caste, sex or place of birth (Article 15A). Fundamental freedoms guaranteed
in Part III include freedom of speech and expression, the freedom to assemble
peacefully, the freedom to form associations, the freedom of movement
and residence and the freedom to practice any profession, carry on any
occupation, trade or business (Article 19). These rights are subject to
reasonable restrictions on the grounds of sovereignty and integrity of the
country, security of the State, public order, decency or morality. The High
Courts and the Supreme Court can be approached if these rights are violated
through unlawful legislative and executive acts. The Supreme Court has
the final mandate to interpret the Constitution. The law declared by the
Supreme Court is binding and enforceable by all authorities – executive,
legislative and judicial.

In the Fundamental Rights chapter, the recognition for affirmative action

for socially and educationally disadvantaged groups is significant. Although
discrimination is prohibited on the grounds stated above, that does not
prevent the state from affirmative action.

Box No. 1

Affirmative action means positive action by the state to set right

past discriminatory treatment, disadvantages and deprivation of
opportunities to marginalized and underprivileged groups of people,
and to create equality of opportunity.

323
Legislation, Social Affirmative action is undertaken by the state in the form of enacting
Protection and Policy
special laws for women and children, socially and educationally backward
classes and Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs). Similarly, in
matters of public employment, while the Constitution states the principle
of equality of opportunity, this can be achieved by the State making special
laws / provisions for reservation in favour of ‘any backward class of citizens,
which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the
services under the State’(Article 16 C4).

Directive Principles of State Policy:

Many of the socio-economic rights, which will be discussed in this Unit,

form part of Part IV of the Constitution. Part IV lists out the Directive
Principles of State Policy (DPSP). The Directive Principles aim at creating
an egalitarian society whose citizens are free from the socio-economic,
political conditions that had prevented them from realizing their potential.

Box No. 2

DPSPs are the creative part of the Constitution, and are directives /
rules that the Indian state has to adhere to in governing the country.
Unlike the fundamental rights, DPSPs cannot be enforced in the courts
of law. Nevertheless, as stated in Article 37 of the Constitution,
these principles are fundamental in the governance of the country
and it shall be the duty of the state to apply these principles in
making laws’.

Hence, Part IV reflects the strong social agenda in the Indian Constitution.
The provisions in Part IV of the Constitution include:

• to strive to promote the welfare of the people by securing a social

order in which justice, social, economic and political shall inform all
the institutions of national life and to minimize inequalities in income,
status, facilities and opportunities not only amongst individuals but
amongst groups of people. (Article 38)

• to secure to the citizens the right to adequate means of livelihood;

that the ownership and control of material resources of the community
are so distributed as best to subserve the common good; that the
operation of the economic system does not result in the concentration
of wealth and means of production to the common detriment; that the
children are given the opportunities and facilities to develop in a
healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and that
childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and against
moral and material abandonment. (Article 39)

• to secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice, on

a basis of equal opportunity, and shall, in particular, provide free legal
324
 aid, by suitable legislation or schemes or in any other way, to ensure Important Legislations
and Landmark
that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by Judgements
reason of economic or other disabilities. (Article 39A)

• state, within the limits of its economic capacity and development, has
to make effective provisions for securing the right to work, education
and public assistance in case of unemployment, old age, sickness and
disablement (Article 41)

• to make provision for just and human conditions of work and maternity
relief (Article 42)

• to secure, by suitable legislation or economic organization or in any

other way, to all workers, agricultural, industrial or otherwise, work,
a living wage, conditions of work that ensure a decent standard of life
and full enjoyment of leisure and social and cultural opportunities, and
in particular the state shall endeavour to promote cottage industries
on an individual or co-operative basis in rural areas living wage etc. for
workers (Article 43)

• to promote, with special care of, the educational and economic interests
of the weaker sections of the people and in particular of the Scheduled
Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, and to protect them from social
injustice and from all forms of exploitation. (Article 46)

• to raise the level of nutrition and standards of living of the people and
to improve public health (Article 47)

2.4 JUDICIAL ENFORCEMENT OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC

RIGHTS
It is not necessary that the person initiating a case should have personally
suffered some injury of his / her own before approaching courts of law for
remedies. Public Interest Litigation (PIL) is a right given to socially conscious
members and public spirited NGOs to espouse a public cause by seeking
judicial for redress of a public injury. Through PILs, opportunities have been
provided to the judiciary to interpret the Constitutional provisions and
enforce socio-economic rights.

Though DPSPs are not directly enforceable in Indian courts, the higher
judiciary (the High Courts and the Supreme Court), on its part, has found
innovative ways of ensuring that provisions which assure social protection
to the poor, needy and the marginalized, are given teeth. The judiciary has
overcome the problem of enforceability by giving a broad interpretation of
the fundamental right to life, a judicially enforceable right. In a judgment,
the Supreme Court observed that ‘life’ in Article 21 of the Constitution does
not connote merely physical or animal existence, but “embraces something
325
Legislation, Social more” (Francis Coralie Mullin v. Union Territory of Delhi and Others AIR 1981
Protection and Policy
SC 746: 1981 (1) SCC 608). In the same judgment, it further opined that:
“We think that the right to life includes the right to live with human dignity
and all that goes along with it, namely, the bare necessaries of life such
as adequate nutrition, clothing and shelter over the head.” Through such
landmark judgments, right to life has been broadly interpreted to include
the right to compulsory primary education, the right to health, right to
shelter, right to food, right to livelihood, right to equal pay for equal work
and right to legal aid.

Attempt the following exercise before reading further.

Check Your Progress:

1) Name some fundamental rights guaranteed by the Indian

Constitution that are relevant to the issue of social protection.

2) Name some relevant directive principles of social policy stated in

the Constitution

3) Which socio-economic rights have the courts included in broadly

interpreting the fundamental right to life with dignity?

326
Let us read about important initiative by the state to protect fundamentals Important Legislations
and Landmark
rights of the women in the country. Judgements

National Policy for the Empowerment of Women 2001

The principle of gender equality that is enshrined in the Indian Constitution

has provided the State with a mandate to adopt measures of positive
discrimination in favour of women. Indian laws, development policies, plans
and programmes have aimed at women’s advancement in different spheres
through the decades since independence. One of the more recent initiatives
of the State, aimed at providing a blue print for the empowerment of
women is the National Policy for the Empowerment of Women 2001.

The Policy recognizes that there continues to exist a wide gap between the
goals enunciated in the Constitution, legislation, policies, plans, programmes,
and related mechanisms on the one hand and the ground reality of the
status of women in India, on the other. The Policy refers to an analysis of
the same in documents such as the Report of the Committee on the Status
of Women in India, “Towards Equality”, 1974, the National Perspective Plan
for Women 1988-2000, the Shramshakti Report 1988 and the Platform for
Action, Five Years After- An assessment. The goals and objectives of the
policy include:

• Creating an environment through positive economic and social policies

for full development of women to enable them to realize their full
potential.

• The de-jure and de-facto enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental
freedom by women on equal basis with men in all spheres – political,
economic, social, cultural and civil.

• Equal access to participation and decision making of women in social,

political and economic life of the nation.

• Equal access to women to health care, quality education at all levels,

career and vocational guidance, employment, equal remuneration,
occupational health and safety, social security and public office etc.

• Mainstreaming a gender perspective in the development process.

In the section on economic empowerment of women, the Policy focuses on

poverty eradication, on mobilization of poor women and on “offering them
a range of economic and social options, along with necessary support
measures to enhance their capabilities”. In order to enhance women’s
access to credit for consumption and production, the Policy envisages the
establishment of new, and strengthening of existing micro-credit mechanisms
and micro-finance institutions.

It recognizes the new challenges posed by the gender impact of Globalization.

It acknowledges that benefits of the growing global economy have been 327
Legislation, Social unevenly distributed, leading to wider economic disparities, the feminization
Protection and Policy
of poverty, increased gender inequality through often deteriorating working
conditions and unsafe working environment especially in the informal
economy and rural areas. The Policy emphasizes on strategies will be designed
to enhance the capacity of women and empower them to meet the negative
social and economic impacts, which may flow from the globalization process.

In the section on social empowerment of women, the Policy focuses on

aspects including education, health, nutrition, water and sanitation and
housing and shelter. These will be discussed in the respective sub-topics
in this Unit.

While the Constitution provides the contours for laws and policies to be
formulated from the perspective of gender equality, the Policy provides a
more detailed action plan for empowerment of women through gender-
specific programmes and interventions as well as gender-mainstreaming.
These form the foundation for the enactment, formulation and implementation
of laws, policies and schemes for social protection from a gender perspective.
You will read in detail about this policy in Unit 4 of this Block.

Five Year Strategic Plan 2011-2016

The Ministry of Women and Child Development formulated a Five Year
Strategic Plan for 2011-2016. The Plan refers to the National Policy for the
Empowerment of Women, 2001 as ‘a comprehensive framework which is
progressive and forward looking in nature’, and states that it proposes to
undertake the formulation of a plan of action to implement the National
Policy. In the process, the plan of action will develop monitorable indicators
that will aid in the process of its implementation. The Plan focuses, in some
detail, schemes on social and economic empowerment of women, including
nutrition policy.

Right to Work
India has witnessed rampant poverty and unemployment, with about 40
million persons unemployed in 2010, an unemployment rate of 9.4% in 2010
as compared to 8% in 2008 and 8.35% in 2006. The critical nature of the
problems of unemployment and poverty warranted state interventions to
create employment generation through a range of policy planning initiatives.
It was during the Fifth Five Year Plan that removal of unemployment and
poverty alleviation was spelt out as one of the principal objectives of
economic planning in the country.

From the 1970s to 1990s, the Indian state formulated and implemented
special schemes in the rural development sector such as Integrated Rural
Development Programme (IRDP), Rural Employment Guarantee Programme
(RLEGP), Jawahar Rozgar Yojna (JRY) etc. to tackle the problem of
unemployment and poverty through employment generation and asset
328 creation. (For more details, see Table 1 of this Unit). This resulted in a steady
increase in employment generation. With the initiation of economic reforms Important Legislations
and Landmark
during the year 1991 and the subsequent removal of trade restrictions and Judgements
other economic controls, it was widely believed that this would result in
expansion of the economy, higher output growth and hence creation of new
employment opportunities that would lead to a fall in the level of poverty
and inequality. Evidence however suggests that the Indian economy has
witnessed a tendency towards casualization of labour which has resulted in
fewer forms of protection for the labour force.

Table 1: Employment generation programmes at a glance: 1970s to 1990s

Type Name of Programme Year of

Launch
Self- Agro-Services Centre early
Employment 1970s
Programmes
Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) 1976-80
Training of Rural Youth for Self-Employment (TRYSEM) 1979
Supply of Improved Toolkits to Rural Artisans (SITRA)
Self Employment Scheme for Educated Unemployed 1983-4
Youth (SEEUY)
Self Employment Programme for Urban Poor (SEPUP) 1986-87
Rural Wage Small Farmers Development Agency (SFDA) 1971
Employment
Programmes
Marginal Farmers and Agricultural Labourers Scheme 1971
Rural Manpower Programme (RMP)
Maharashtra Employment Guarantee Scheme (MEGS) 1972-3
Crash Scheme for Rural Employment (CSRE) 1971
Food for Work Programme (FFWP) 1977
National Rural Employment Programme (NREP) 1980
Rural Labourers Employment Guarantee Programme 1983
(RLEGP)
Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas 1982-3
(DWCRA)
Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (JRY) (a rural works 1989-90
programme introduced in 1989-1990, which
later incorporated the NREP and RLEGP)
Employment Nehru Rozgar Yojna 1989
Programmes for
the Urban Poor
Scheme for Educated Unemployed for Employment
Generation in Urban Localities
Special Area Drought Prone Areas Programme (DPEP) 1973
Development
Programmes
Desert Development Programme (DDP) 1977-78
Hill Area Development Programme (HADP) 1974
Command Area Development Programme (CADP) 1974-75
329
Legislation, Social In addition to these national-level programmes undertaken by the Central
Protection and Policy
Government, several NGOs and voluntary associations also initiated micro-
level training with or without outside assistance. These programmes have
emphasized the development of income-earning capacities and self-
sufficiency on the part of their beneficiaries.

In the context of rampant poverty and an enormous unemployment, there

has been a growing policy response focussing on inclusive growth on one
hand, and an engagement with the rights regime on the other hand. Mahatma
Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (referred to hereafter as
NREGA) came in this context of inclusive growth and radicalization of State
policy, foregrounding its obligation as a law.

National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) 2006

The NREGA, passed in 2006, has several objectives, and is seen as an

intervention to stimulate local development as much as a means of social
protection. Expected outcomes include:

• an increase in employment and purchasing power

• women’s participation in the workforce

• the strengthening of rural infrastructure through the creation of durable

assets regeneration of natural resources that provide the livelihood
resource base of the local rural economy

• an increase in productivity

• a reduction in distress migration.

The law guarantees 100 days’ paid work each year for every rural household
whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. In this manner,
it envisages improving the livelihood security or rural households. As per
the scheme of this law, adult members of a rural household willing to do
unskilled manual work may apply for registration to the local Gram Panchayat,
in writing, or orally and in return receive a Job Card. A Job Card is the
basic legal document that enables a rural household to demand work. In
addition, there is a time-bound guarantee. The state administration has to
provide employment within 15 days of demand, failing which unemployment
allowance has to be paid by the State at its own cost. Through the law,
the State guarantees that it will provide work within 5 km radius of the
village, failing which it will pay 10% extra wages. Payment of wages will be
according to the notified wage rate, and there is a provision for the payment
to be made on a weekly basis and not beyond a fortnight. Work site
facilities that the law provides for include crèche, drinking water, first aid
and shade at worksites. It promotes equity by requiring that at least one
third of workers should be women, and by giving priority to disadvantaged
groups such as SCs, STs and those below poverty lines.

330
The NREGA places a major part of the responsibility for its implementation Important Legislations
and Landmark
on the panchayats (village councils). The law envisages a decentralised Judgements
system of governance in which the local community can create projects to
meet local needs through the gram sabha (a permanent body of people on
the local electoral roll that monitors panchayat plans) so that the NREGA
works reflect village priorities. The Act covers 615 districts and has provided
employment of about 2900 million person days in 2010-11.

All previous programmes of wage employment through public works are now
merged into the NREGA. The NREGA builds upon earlier public works
programmes, including the National Rural Employment Programme 1980–9;
Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Programme 1983–9; Jawahar Rozgar
Yojna 1989-99; Employment Assurance Scheme 1993–9; Jawahar Gram
Samridhi Yojna 1999-2002; Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojna since September
2001; National Food For Work Programme 2004 (a precursor of the NREGA),
and the Maharashtra Employment Guarantee Scheme. Unit 3 of this Block
will critically examine the extent to which the State has discharged its
duties under the law and the effectiveness of the implementation of the
legal provisions.

Gender and NREGA: The NREGA has been envisaged as a gender sensitive
law. It allows for crèche facilities on work sites, insists that one-third of all
participants are women, and wages do not discriminate between the sexes.
The guidelines clearly spell out equal wages to men and women for equal
work done, and a compliance with the provisions of Equal Remuneration
Act. Women are expected to be represented on the local monitoring /
vigilance committee that is formed for monitoring the work undertaken,
thereby paving way for women’s role in management of the projects. Women
are also expected to participate in social audit processes that are undertaken
twice a year. The Act also recognizes single women as a ‘household’,
thereby making it possible for widows / deserted / divorced / destitute and
other categories of single women to benefit from this law.

2.5 LAWS PROTECTING WORKERS’ RIGHTS

Labour laws aim at protecting and promoting workers’ rights at the work
place. Provisions of labour laws for women’s rights have focused on improving
the safety, health and welfare of women in factories and other places of
work, minimum wages, equal pay for equal work, maternity benefits, child
care facilities, provisions for adequate rest and leisure, prevention of
discrimination and sexual harassment at the work place. Many labour laws
are an elaboration of principles and directives stated in the Constitution.
For example, the equal pay for equal work clause led to the enactment of
The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976. The emphasis on just and humane
conditions of work led to provisions in Factories Act and other labour laws,
331
Legislation, Social prescribing for separate toilets for women and provision of crèches, and the
Protection and Policy
prohibition of employment of women in dangerous or arduous jobs and
night employment. The direction to the State’s provision of maternity relief
resulted in the enactment of The Maternity Benefits Act, 1961. Labour laws
that protect women at the work place include:

• The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 – Provides for equal remuneration

to men and women workers for same work or similar work, and prohibits
discrimination is in recruitment and service conditions except where
employment of women is prohibited or restricted by the law.

• Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 – Provides for maternity leave and benefit
in order to protect the dignity of motherhood and gender justice.

• The Factories Act, 1948 - The Act has many provisions protecting
women at the workplace, including issues pertaining to occupational
safety, provision of sanitation and crèche facilities.

• The Mines Act, 1952 – It prohibits the employment of women

underground, and provides for restricted timings of work for women
employed above the ground.

• Payment of Wages Act, 1936 and the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 -
Provide for regular and timely payment of wages; industry wage boards
are mandated to fix the wage structure for each industry. No payment
below the prescribed minimum wages is allowed.

• Employees’ Compensation Act, 1923 – Formerly known as the Workmen’s

Compensation Act, provides for compensation to workers for industrial
accidents and occupational diseases leading to disability or death.

• The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 – The law covers layoffs, compensation
for retrenchments, labour-management disputes and unfair labour
practices; labour courts and industrial tribunals deal with disputes
covered by this law.

• The Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 – Requires employers to pay a

gratuity to workers earning less than a certain limit upon their
termination of service.

• The Employees Provident Fund, Act - Applies to most establishments

that employ at least 20 workers. Employers and employees contribute
10-12% of the basic wage and dearness allowance of the employee.
From the employer’s contribution, a certain amount is diverted to the
Pension Fund. Four main types of pensions are offered: a monthly
pension upon superannuation or disability; a monthly widows’ pension
for death while in service; a monthly children’s pension; and a monthly
orphan’s pension.

332
• Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation), Act 1986 – Prohibits child Important Legislations
and Landmark
labour in hazardous occupations and regulates conditions of work in Judgements
the non-hazardous ones.

Box No.3

Other laws pertaining to rights of workers, which benefit women –

These include Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 1976, Plantation

Labour Act 1951, Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act 1946,
Trade Union Act 1926, Payment of Bonus Act 1955, Personal Injuries
(Compensation Insurance) Act 1963, Employees State Insurance Act
1948, Interstate Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment)
Conditions of Service Act 1979, and The Contract Labour (Prohibition
and Regulation) Act 1970.

In addition to the Constitutional provisions and labour laws, India has ratified
a number of international conventions that focus directly or have provisions
on women’s rights at the workplace. Through ratification, such international
standards become applicable to India. Such conventions include:

• ILO Underground, Work (Women) Convention, 1935 (No. 45) ratified on

25/03/1938

• ILO Night Work (Women) (Revised) Convention, 1948; and Protocol,

1990 (No. 89) ratified on 27/02/1950)

• ILO Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) ratified on 25/09/

1958

• ILO Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No.

111) ratified on 03/06/1960

• ILO Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) ratified on 17/11/

1998

• ILO Benzene Convention, 1971 (No. 136) ratified on 11/06/1991

• ILO Rural Workers’ Organisations Convention, 1975 (No. 141) ratified on

18/08/1977

• UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against

Women (CEDAW), 1979 ratified on 09/07/93

• UN Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966 (ICESCR)

acceded to 10/04/1979

• UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966 (ICCPR) acceded to 10/

04/1979

• UN Convention on the Political Rights of Women, 1953 ratified on 01/

11/1961

333
Legislation, Social
Protection and Policy 2.6 GENDER-SPECIFIC FACILITIES AT THE
WORKPLACE
Workplaces have traditionally been designed keeping men in mind, with
long hours and the expectation of total commitment to work. Such practices
have largely deterred young mothers from seeking competitive jobs and
careers, forcing women out of remunerative work once they give birth, due
to a lack of child-care and other gender-friendly support systems at work.
In this context, laws and policies have provided for gender-specific facilities
at the workplace in order to make the right to work / livelihood a reality
for women.

Gender-specific facilities at the workplace include provision of separate

washing and toilet facilities, crèches and day-care facilities, breaks for
breast-feeding, in addition to maternity benefits. For example, the Beedi
and Cigar Workers’ (Conditions of Employment) Act, Employees Provident
Funds and Family Pension Act, Employees’ State Insurance Act, the Factories
Act, Shops and Establishment Acts are laws that provide for rules regarding
pay, leave, hours of work, intervals of rest, overtime and ban on work in
hazardous conditions. Night work is banned for women under most such
legislations. However, the Factories Act was amended in 2005 to allow
women to work on night shifts (10 pm-6 am), as long as employees provide
adequate safeguards for them. The laws prescribe for provisions for crèches
where more than 30 women are employed, as well as guidelines for running
the crèches. Women contract labourers and inter-state migrant labourers
under the relevant Acts are also eligible for creche and rest-room facilities.

The need for child care services has been emphasized in the National Policy
for Education 1986, National Policy for Children 1994, the National Policy
for Empowerment of Women 2001 and the National Plan of Action for
Children 2005. Provision of crèches has been made compulsory under the
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005. In August 2006, the Ministry
of Women and Child Development announced that it would introduce a
policy that made it mandatory for public and private organizations to provide
young working mothers with facilities of crèches and day care centres.
Accordingly, it has formulated the Rajiv Gandhi National Creche Scheme for
the Children of Working Mothers. Although gender-specific facilities relating
to taking care of young children are warranted at the woman’s workplace,
by not providing such facilities at the father’s workplace, the government
could end up validating / reinforcing the cultural norm of reposing women
with the sole responsibility of taking care of children.

It is again time to assess your understanding of the last few section by

attempting the following exercise

334
 Important Legislations
Check Your Progress: and Landmark
Judgements
1) What is the significance of the National Policy for the Empowerment
of Women 2001 and A Five Year Strategic Plan for 2011-2016?

2) How is NREGA different from other government-initiated

employment generation schemes for the underprivileged people?

3) Why is NREGA considered to be a gender-sensitive law?

4) Name some labour laws that protect women in places of work.

5) Name some gender-specific facilities at the workplace that women

are entitled to through laws, schemes and judgments.

335
Legislation, Social In the following section you will read about social protection measures for
Protection and Policy
workers in organised sector.

2.7 SOCIAL PROTECTION MEASURES FOR WORKERS

2.7.1 Organized Sector

In the organized sector of workforce, apart from both the Central and State
Governments fixing minimum rates of wages under the Minimum Wages Act,
1948 for various employments under their respective jurisdiction, the Central
Government fixes the National Floor Level Minimum Wage (NFLMW) revising
it from time to time. It presently stands at Rs.115/- per day w.e.f. 1.4.2011.
Though non-statutory, the State Governments are advised to ensure that in
none of their scheduled employments, the Minimum Wages are fixed at a
level less than NFLMW (Pillai, 2011). In addition, social protection is provided
through various laws such as

• The Payment of Gratuity Act, 1927: provides for compulsory payment

of gratuity to employees in various establishments.

• The Employees’ Compensation Act, 1923: Formerly known as the

Workmen’s Compensation Act, this law imposes an obligation upon the
employers to pay compensation to workers for accidents arising out of
and in the course of employment.

• The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961: The Act promotes women’s welfare
by providing for paid maternity leave etc.

• The Plantation Labour Act, 1951: It deals with welfare facilities to

be provided to plantation workers and has been amended recently to
provide safety and occupational health care.

• The Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) Act, 1948: It provides for health
care and cash benefit payments in the case of sickness, maternity and
employment injury. The Act has been amended to improve the quality
of service under the scheme and also enable ESI infrastructures to be
used to provide health care to workers in the unorganized sector.

• The Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act,

1952: The Act provides for instituting provident funds, pension fund
and deposit link insurance fund for employees working in factories and
other establishments.

• Rajiv Gandhi Shramik Kalyan Yojana: A scheme to provide social safety

net to insured workers rendered unemployed through retrenchment,
layoff, closure and partial disability. It is being implemented by ESI
corporation by way of providing about half of the wages and medical
benefits for a period of one year.

336
Let us now read about measures that protection workers in unorganised Important Legislations
and Landmark
sector. Judgements

2.7.2 Unorganized Sector

Informal Sector

It is also referred to as since a majority of workers in the unorganized

sector are women, social protection measures applicable to the unorganized
sector of the labour force are more relevant for women’s empowerment.
Sudarshan (2009) writes that the social security problems of workers in the
unorganised/informal sector may be divided into two sets of problems:

a) those that arise due to deprivation of poorer sections of population,

such as inadequate employment, low earnings, low health and
educational status; and

b) those that arise due to inadequate safety nets to meet contingencies

such as ill health, accident, death, and old age.

The fact that a majority of workers from socially backward communities

find themselves in the unorganised/informal sector imparts a certain social
dimension to the characteristics of these workers. It is for this reason that
the National Commission on Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector (NCEUS),
in its May 2006 report, recommended that a measure of social security in
that sense should also be seen as a form of social upliftment.

For workers in the unorganised sector, the main approach has been the
setting up of sector-specific welfare funds (usually tripartite in nature, with
contributions from the government, employer and worker). Such welfare
funds include both contributory and tax-based schemes. Tax-based schemes
have been set up by the Government of India for workers including beedi
workers, mine workers, workers associated with cinema and construction
workers. Through the welfare fund, workers have access to medical care,
education for their children and other specified forms of social assistance.
Health insurance schemes such as the Rastriya Swasthya Bima Yojana
(RSBY), Aam Admi Bima Yojana (AABY) that provides for death and disability
insurance cover to rural landless households and welfare funds and schemes
for various categories of unorganized workers extend the much-needed
social protection to them.

In order to ensure welfare of workers in the unorganized sector, the

Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Act has been enacted in 2008. This
law provides the State the mandate to formulate schemes to provide for
life and disability cover, health and maternity benefits, old age protection
and any other benefit as may be determined. Unit 3 of this Block will
critically examine aspects of the implementation of this law and the
challenges that have arisen while doing so.
337
Legislation, Social
Protection and Policy 2.8 LANDMARK JUDGEMENTS ON WOMEN AT WORK
You have earlier read about it in MWG – 002, Block 4 Unit 3. Here, we will
deal with them in more detail.

The Constitutional guarantee of equality and non-discrimination has led to

discriminatory practices in appointments, promotions, terminations and
conditions of work being declared as illegal. In C.B.Muthamma IFS vs. Union
of India, the Supreme Court held provisions of the Indian Foreign Service
rules that discriminated against married women to be unconstitutional. In
Air India vs. Nargesh Meerza, the Supreme Court struck down the provision
of rules which stipulated termination of service of an air hostess on her first
pregnancy as it arbitrary and abhorrent to the notions of a civilized society.
In Randhir Singh v. Union of India, the Supreme Court has held that although
the principle of ’equal pay for equal work’ is not expressly declared by our
Constitution to be a fundamental right, but it is certainly a constitutional
goal under Articles 14, 16 and 39 (c) of the Constitution. This right can,
therefore, be enforced in cases of unequal pay scales based on
irrational classification. This decision has been followed in a number of
cases by the Supreme Court.

In M/s. Mackinnon Mackenzie & Co. Ltd. vs. Audrey D’Costa and Others,
where women stenographers had been given a lower scale of pay than male
stenographers, the Supreme Court held that the differential pay scales
were in violation of the Constitutional provisions and provisions of the Equal
Remuneration Act 1976.

Box No. 4

In accordance with Constitutional provisions on affirmative actions on

behalf of women, reservation of seats have been made for women in
municipalities, educational institutions, public employment and
panchayats. Soft loans and tax concessions are provided to women
entrepreneurs. The guarantee of right to life and personal liberty was
applied in contexts of sexual harassment at workplace, where the
Supreme Court issued guidelines for its prevention and redress.

The judiciary has exhibited deep concern for occupational health and safety.
In Consumer Education and Research Centre vs. Union of India, which dealt
with conditions of work and health effects on employees in the asbestos
manufacturing industry, the Supreme Court held that the right to health of
a worker is an integral facet of a meaningful right to life.

In Bandhua Mukti Morcha vs. Union of India, the Supreme Court dealt with
the release of bonded labourers from stone quarries in Haryana. In People’s
Union for Democratic Rights vs. Union of India, the Supreme Court reiterated
338
that the state was under a constitutional obligation to see that there was Important Legislations
and Landmark
no violation of the fundamental right of any person, particularly when she Judgements
/ he belongs to the weaker section of the community and is unable to wage
a legal battle against a strong and powerful opponent. Even though the
facts of these cases did not concern women workers, these are landmark
judgments that have laid down progressive principles of law with regard to
workers’ rights, which could be extended to women workers too as and
when the need arises.

In a judgment that brought reprieve to thousands of women working as bar

dancers, the Bombay High Court struck down the ban against bar dancers
in Maharashtra that had been issued by the state government, stating that
the ban violated the bar dancers’ right to life and livelihood.

On the controversial issue of prohibition of night shifts for women, the

Madras High Court handed down a progressive judgment, declaring that
provisions in the Factories Act which ban women from working in night
shifts, are unconstitutional, as they resulted in a denial of livelihood to
women. The judgment further prescribed measures to be undertaken by
the employer to provide safety to women employees during night shifts.
Banning women from working in nightshifts has been a contentious issue,
as women are sought to be protected by the state by curbing their freedom
to work.

The Supreme Court pronounced a landmark judgment on sexual harassment

of working women in 1997 in Vishaka and Others vs. State of Rajasthan. In
this judgment, the court stated that sexual harassment of working women
amounts to violation of rights of gender equality. As a consequence it also
amounts to violation of the right to practice any profession, occupation,
and trade.

Check progress of your learning by taking up the following exercise.

Check Your Progress:

1) Name some laws and schemes that provide social protection to

workers in the organized sector.

339
Legislation, Social
Protection and Policy 2) Name some laws and schemes that provide social protection to
workers in the unorganized sector.

3) Name some landmark judgments on women’s rights in the workplace.

Let us continue our discussion on land mark some important legislative

measures that have benefitted women.

2.9 RIGHT TO EDUCATION

Social protection and education are linked in more ways than one. Education
is a tool through which poverty can be prevented from passing on from one
generation to the next. At the same time, social protection aims to address
the problems of poverty and inequality that act as obstacles to universal
education in many countries including India. The Right to Education has
received considerable impetus during the last decade as a result of the
concerted effort of many groups and agencies that made determined efforts
to ensure that all children in India receive at least the minimum of education
irrespective of their socio-economic status and their ability to pay for
education in a situation of continuous impoverishment and erosion of basic
needs. The Indian state too has been regularly formulating provisions and
schemes for promoting elementary education. (You will read more about
this Act in the next unit of this Block)
340
In 1992, the Supreme Court, in Mohini Jain’s case, stated that the right to Important Legislations
and Landmark
education was a fundamental right and enforceable. The correctness of this Judgements
judgment was examined by a larger bench of five judges in Unnikrishnan’s
case in 1993, where the court declared that the right to education is
implicit in and flows from the right to life guaranteed under Article 21 and
that ‘a child (citizen) has a fundamental right to free education up to the
age of fourteen years’. The State responded to this judgment in 2002 by
inserting, through an amendment to the Constitution, Article 21-A, which
provides for the fundamental right to education for children between the
ages of 6 and 14.

In the year 2000, Millenium Development Goals were developed by the

international community to encourage development by improving the socio-
economic conditions in the world’s poorest countries. These consist of eight
developmental goals that the international community agrees to achieve by
2015. The goals were formally adopted through the United Nations Millenium
Declaration.

Indian policies on education have also been influenced by Goal 2 of the

Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) developed in 2000, dealing with
achieving universal primary education. This resulted in the launch of Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) in 2001-02, which addresses the educational needs
of children in the age-group of 6-14 years by strengthening educational
infrastructure in terms of opening of new schools, construction, renovation
and expansion of school buildings and providing other amenities like text
books etc. Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS) and Alternative and
Innovative Education (AIE) are important components of SSA, intended at
bringing out-of-school children within the fold of elementary education.
EGS addresses the inaccessible habitation where there is no formal school
within the radius of one km and at least 15-25 children of 6-14 years age
group who are not going to school are available. In exceptional cases
remote habitations in hilly areas even for 10 children an EGS school can be
opened. AIE interventions are for specific categories of very deprived
children e.g., child labour, street children, migrating children, working
children, children living in difficult circumstances and older children in the
9+ age group especially adolescent girls are being supported under EGS and
AIE all over the country. Prarambhik Shiksh Kosh (PSK) was established
in 2004-5, through with the educational cess of 2% on all major central
taxes is received. The funds in the Kosh is utilised exclusively for Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan and National Programme for Nutrional Support to Primary
Education (NP-NSPE) Mid-Day Meals. Thereafter, The Right of Children to
Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act was enacted in 2009 and came
into force from 1.4.2010. This provided a statutory base for providing
education to children and a blueprint for implementing the right to
education.
341
Legislation, Social Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act 2009
Protection and Policy
The important features of this law are as follows:

• It provides free and compulsory education to all children of India in the

age group of 6 to 14 years;

• No child can be held back, expelled, or required to pass a board

examination until the completion of elementary education;

• If a child above six years of age has not been admitted in any school
or though admitted, could not complete his / her elementary education,
then, he / she will be admitted in a class appropriate to his or her age.
In such a case, the child has a right to receive special training, and
would be entitled to free education until completion of elementary
education, even if it extends beyond 14 years of age;

• No child can be denied admission in a school due to lack of age proof.

Birth certificate or other document may be used for determining the
age of the child;

• A child who completes elementary education shall be awarded a

certificate;

• The law provides for 25 percent reservation for economically

disadvantaged communities in admission to Class 1 in all private schools;

• It mandates improvement in quality of education;

• Where there is inadequate school infrastructure, this has to be improved

within three years, failing which the recognition given to the school will
be cancelled; and

• The expenses of free education will be shared between state and central
government.

Education and the National Policy for Empowerment of Women 2001

The National Policy for Empowerment of Women 2001 provides a mandate

to the government to ensure equal access to education for women and
girls, special measures to eliminate discrimination, universalize education,
eradicate illiteracy, create a gender-sensitive educational system, increase
enrolment and retention rates of girls and improve the quality of education
to facilitate life-long learning as well as development of occupation/vocation/
technical skills by women. Further, reducing the gender gap in secondary
and higher education is stated as a focus area. The Policy promises to
develop gender-sensitive curricula at all levels of educational system in
order to address sex stereotyping as one of the causes of gender
discrimination.

342
Educational Schemes Important Legislations
and Landmark
The exercise of the right to education of girl children will thus be influenced Judgements

by an inter-play of the RTE Act and the Policy WE 2001 (you will read about
this policy in detail in unit 5 of this Block). To promote literacy among its
citizens, the Government of India has launched several schemes such as the
Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya Scheme, Mid-day Meal Scheme and the
National Program for Education of Girls at Elementary Level (NPEGEL). Unit
3 of this Block critically examines the RTE Act and its implementation.

2.10 FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY

Due to lack of purchasing power, increasing debt, massive unemployment,
natural disasters (such as droughts and floods), and other factors, starvation
remains a tangible and imminent threat to millions of people across the
country. Food and nutrition security has been a major developmental
objective in post-independent India. There is no universally accepted
definition of food security. However, most definitions focus on a secure
access to sufficient and affordable nutritious food.

Box No.5

Nutrition security means having an access to adequate quantities of

carbohydrates, proteins, fats and micronutrients through availability
and affordability of diverse foods including grains, pulses, oil, meat,
milk, eggs, vegetables and fruits to meet the requirement for a person
according to the stage in her/his life cycle.

India achieved self-sufficiency in food grains in the 1970s and has sustained
it since then. But the achievement of food grain security at the national
level did not benefit the poorest of the poor and the level of chronic food
insecurity is still high. Today, India ranks 94th out of 119 countries in the
Global Hunger Index. 43% of Indian children and 40 % of women are
malnourished. 50% of child deaths are due to malnutrition. In the mid-
2000s, more than half of adult women in India were anemic, and a third
of all adults (men and women) were underweight (Lakshamanan, 2010).
According to the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized
Sector (Arjun Sengupta Report) 77% of Indians live on less than Rs 20 a
day(NCEUS Report,2009).

In recent years, there has been a shift in policy focus towards household
food security and per capita food energy intake is used as a measure of
food security. The government has been implementing a wide range of
nutrition intervention programmes for achieving food security at the
household and individual levels, including the Public Distribution System
(PDS), a range of food-for-work and other wage employment programmes
343
Legislation, Social as well as those that directly benefit women and children. In addition,
Protection and Policy
schemes such as The National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP)
ensures adequate supply of water in rural areas for drinking, cooking and
other domestic needs on a sustainable basis. There are eight major schemes
/ programmes of the central government in this regard, details of which are
given in Table B of this Unit. In a significant interim order dated 28 November
2001, the Supreme Court issued directions pertaining to 8 food-related
schemes sponsored by the central government. Briefly, the order directs
the Union and State governments to implement these schemes fully as per
official guidelines. This, in effect, converts the benefits of these schemes
into legal entitlements. (www.righttofood.org)

The most important challenge is to increase the energy intake of the

bottom 30% of the population. The food gap can be met from the existing
foodgrain stocks in the medium term and by increasing their purchasing
power in the long run through increasing job opportunities. There is also a
need to improve the efficiency of the various food schemes initiated by the
government and make it more available and free of corruption and urban
bias.

Landmark Judgment on Right to Food

In April 2001, People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL, Rajasthan) filed a
petition in the Supreme Court seeking legal enforcement of the right to
food, by arguing that the fundamental right to life guaranteed under Article
21 of the Constitution included the right to food. This petition was filed at
a time when the country’s food stocks reached unprecedented levels (60
million tonnes in Food Corporation of India’s godowns) which was 40 million
tonnes above the buffer stock of 20 million tonnes required. Yet, nationwide,
there were reports of people dying of starvation. The petition addressed
varied issues such as inadequate drought relief, chronic hunger, severe
undernutrition, implementation of food-related schemes, starvation deaths,
the breakdown of the Public Distribution System (PDS) as well as general
issues of transparency and accountability. In response to this petition, the
Supreme Court issued orders from time to time on various aspects of the
right to food.

The court affirmed that the right to food was an integral part of right to
life with dignity guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution of India. It
directed that all the PDS shops, if closed, were to be re-opened within one
week. The Food Corporation of India (FCI) was ordered to ensure that food
grains do not get wasted. The states were given the responsibility of
implementation of government schemes including the Employment Assurance
Scheme, which may have been replaced by a Sampurna Gramin Yojana, Mid-
day Meal Scheme, Integrated Child Development Scheme, National Benefit
Maternity Scheme for pregnant women BPL, National Old Age Pension Scheme
344
for destitute persons of over 65 years, Annapurna Scheme, Antyodaya Anna Important Legislations
and Landmark
Yojana, National Family Benefit Scheme and Public Distribution Scheme for Judgements
BPL and APL families.

Such orders can be useful for action in order to hold the state accountable,
for providing food and nutrition security to the most underprivileged
communities. For instance, if starvation deaths are reported in a particular
area, or if there is no food in the ration shops, or if the State Government
fails to provide cooked mid-day meals in primary schools, the Supreme
Court orders can be used to demand prompt action from the concerned
authorities.

National Food Security Act, 2011

The Indian government introduced the National Food Security Bill. This was
introduced in the Lok Sabha on 22 December 2011, but was referred to the
Parliamentary Standing Committee on Food which is presently considered
the provisions of the Bill and the varied criticisms to it. The Act promises
subsidised food security to over 63 per cent of the country’s population.
The provisions of the Act and criticisms to the same and concerns raised by
civil society in the context of ground realities will be discussed in Unit 3
of this Block.

Right to Health and Healthcare

In India, the Bhore Committee Report 1946, which emphasized on a

combination of preventive and curative functions of healthcare, laid the
foundation for healthcare policies (CEHAT, 1996).

Thereafter, the government adopted a policy approach to healthcare, by

implementing health plans and programs over the nine plan periods. Despite
this, a highly inequitable health system has denied quality health care to
those who cannot afford it. In recent years, on one hand, there has been
a move towards privatization of healthcare, which denies the poor people
of access to healthcare. On the other, civil society groups have been adopting
a human rights approach to healthcare and demanding comprehensive and
universal access to healthcare for all as an entitlement and a positive right.

Using a human rights approach implies that the entitlement is universal,

with no exclusion of any group of people on grounds such as purchasing
power, employment status, residence, religion, caste, gender, disability,
and any other basis of discrimination. At the same time, universality does
not discount the special needs of disadvantaged and vulnerable groups who
may need special entitlements through affirmative action to rectify historical
or other inequities suffered by them. The framework of right to health and
healthcare in India requires the following elements: availability, non-
discrimination, physical accessibility, economic accessibility, information
accessibility, and quality.
345
Legislation, Social Take up the following exercise before your proceed reading further.
Protection and Policy

Check Your Progress:

Write a line or two about each of the following

1) RTE ACT 2009

2) National Food Secirity Act

3) Right to health and health care

4) National Policy for Empowerment of women, 2001

Read state’s interventions regarding health care in the ensuing paragraphs.

Government Schemes and Laws to cover health care.

The National Policy for Empowerment of Women 2001 concerns itself with
the following aspects of healthcare of women:

• Adoption of a holistic approach to women’s health which includes both

nutrition and health services will be adopted and special attention will
be given to the needs of women and the girl at all stages of the life cycle.
346
• The reduction of infant mortality and maternal mortality, which are Important Legislations
and Landmark
sensitive indicators of human development, as a priority concern. Judgements

• Women should have access to comprehensive, affordable and quality

health care.

• Measures will be adopted take into account the reproductive rights of

women to enable them to exercise informed choices, their vulnerability
to sexual and health problems together with endemic, infectious and
communicable diseases.

• The social, developmental and health consequences of HIV/AIDS and

other sexually transmitted diseases will be tackled from a gender
perspective.

• Strict implementation of registration of births and deaths and compulsory

registration of marriages to make accurate data available on infant and
maternal mortality and early marriage.

• Recognition of the critical need of men and women to have access to

safe, effective and affordable methods of family planning of their
choice and the need to suitably address the issues of early marriages
and spacing of children.

• Recognition of and encouragement to women’s traditional knowledge

about health care and nutrition.

• Enhancement of the use of Indian and alternative systems of medicine

within the framework of overall health infrastructure available for
women.

In order to provide health security, especially to women, children and the

poor residing in rural areas, the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was
launched in 2005. It covers vital determinants of health such as nutrition,
sanitation, hygiene and safe drinking water. Its major goal is to reduce
infant and maternal mortality rate, prevention of communicable and
non-communicable diseases etc. The programme has been instrumental in
the decline in the infant mortality rate from 58 in 2005 to 50 in 2009 and
increase in the institutional delivery from 10.84 million in 2005-06 to 16.21
million in 2009-10. Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), launched in 2005, is a safe
motherhood intervention under the NRHM. It is being implemented with the
aim of reducing maternal and neo- natal mortality by promoting institutional
delivery among poor pregnant women.

Some of the most significant healthcare laws in India pertaining to women

include the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971 and Pre-Conception
and Pre-natal Diagnostic Technique (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse
(PCPNDT) Act 1994, which focus on issues of reproductive health. However,
a combination of statutory laws and court judgments exist on many other
347
Legislation, Social aspects of health such as right to emergency health care, HIV/AIDS, medical
Protection and Policy
practice care, medical negligence, drugs and public health, occupational
health and safety, mental healthcare, environment and health and health
of prisoners. These have their impact on women too.

Landmark Judgments

In a case (Dr. Upendra Baxi vs. State of Uttar Pradesh (1983) 2 SCC 308),
the Supreme Court enforced the human rights of the occupants of State
Protective Homes for Women, and gave directions on aspects of mental
health. In another case (See for example State of Haryana vs. Smt Santara
AIR 2000 SC 1888 and Achutrao Haribhau Khoda vs.), which involved the
condition of a mental hospital near Ranchi, it was found that women patients
were not released from the hospital even after being cured. The hospital
authorities and the state administration claimed that they were not accepted
back by relatives even though they have been informed about the cure of
the patients. The Supreme Court directed the establishment of a
rehabilitation centre for such patients who are not accepted back by their
families. In cases of failed sterilization due to medical negligence, the
courts have awarded compensation for pregnancy/delivery of a child.

On the issue of occupational safety, the Supreme Court directed, in ASIAD

Construction Workers’ case, that the State was under a constitutional
obligation to see that there was no violation of the fundamental right of
any person, particularly when he belongs to the weaker section of the
community and is unable to wage a legal battle against a strong and
powerful opponent who is exploiting him. The court directed the proper
implementation of various laws including the law related to maternity
benefit, and the Mines Creche Rules 1966.

On the issue of misuse of medical technology, the Supreme Court delivered

a landmark judgment in CEHAT and Others vs. Union of India. In this case,
non-profit organizations CEHAT and MASUM along with Sabu George’ an
individual activist, filed a public interest litigation before the Supreme
Court stating that the PCPNDT Act was not being implemented properly
resulting in the falling female child sex ration in the country. The Supreme
Court passed strictures against the central and state governments for failure
to implement the Act and issued continuing court orders for the effective
implementation of the provisions of law. The problems related to
implementation of the law will be discussed more elaborately in Unit 3 of
this Block.

While judgments have reiterated and upheld women’s right to health and
healthcare, not all judgments have been positive. For example, coercive
population policies have been accepted by courts as legal, despite the
negative consequences for empowerment of women.

348
Assess your understanding before reading further. Important Legislations
and Landmark
Judgements
Check Your Progress:

1) State the major steps taken by the government on the issue of

right to education.

2) What are the major government schemes on food and nutrition

security?

3) Name the landmark judgment on right to food. What did it say?

4) What does a human rights approach to health and healthcare mean?

5) What are the important ingredients of the framework of right to

health and healthcare in India?

349
Legislation, Social
Protection and Policy 2.11 LET US SUM UP
The Constitutional provisions provide the State a clear mandate to extend
social protection to underprivileged groups of people. A variety of schemes,
programmes, policies and laws are in place to provide the same. Landmark
judgments work at two levels: a) they interpret the laws and give meaning
to existing guarantee of rights; and b) they direct the state to discharge its
obligations towards weaker sections of the population and monitor the
implementation of the various schemes, programmes and laws by the state
administration. Landmark judgments on right to education, right to work
and rights in work are examples of the former, while those on the right to
food and the implementation of PCPNDT Act are examples of the latter.
Processes of economic globalization, privatization of the social sector (such
as the health and education sectors), inadequate budget allocation,
corruption, lack of political will to implement the laws, policies and schemes,
and the setting up of Special Economic Zones where labour laws are
suspended are some challenges to be addressed in ensuring that citizens’
right to social protection becomes a reality.

2.12 REFERENCES
Bhasin, Lalit (2007). Labour and Employment Laws of India, available at
http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=50440, accessed on 27 January
2009.

Bhole. (1994)‘Unemployment Alleviation Programmes in India: A Review and

Prospects under the New Economic Policy’, The Indian Journal of Labour
Economics Vol. 37 No. 2.

Duggal, Ravi (2007) Right to Health and Healthcare: Theoretical Perspectives

in Mihir Desai and Kamayani Bali Mahabal, Healthcare Case Law in India: A
Reader, Mumbai: CEHAT and India Centre for Human Rights and Law.

Income Generating Programmes for Poverty Alleviation through Non-Formal

Education: IGP Country Report – India, UNESCO, Bangkok, 2003, available at
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001318/131810e.pdf, accessed on
17 March 2012.

Jesani Amar, (1996). Laws and Healthcare Providers: A Study of Legislation

and Legal Aspects of Healthcare Delivery, CEHAT, 1996, available at http:/
/www.cehat.org/go/uploads/Lhcp/lhcp.pdf, accessed on 10 March 2012.

Justice S. Muralidhar. The Expectations and Challenges of Judicial

Enforcement of Social Rights, available at delhidistrictcourts.nic.in/ejournals/
Social_Rights_Jurisprudence.pdf, accessed on 1 March 2012.

350
Lux, Lakshmanan (2010). India’s Food Security Challenge, The Hindu, 4 Important Legislations
and Landmark
January. Judgements

Sharma, Amita (2010). Rights-based Legal Guarantee as Development Policy:

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. NREGA-
UNDP Discussion Paper No. 2.

Mahadevia, Darshini and Shah, Pooja(2009). Inclusive Urbanization -Social

Protection for the Slum and Pavement Dwellers in India: A presentation at
SPA Annual Research Workshop, Hanoi, 3-4 June 2009, available at
www.socialprotectionasia.org/Conf-prgram-pdf/3_June-Darshini.pdf, accessed
on 10 March 2012.

National Food Security Act (2010): An Introductory Primer on the Legal

Guarantees Demanded by the Right to Food Campaign, Right to Food
Campaign Secretariat, New Delhi, Aug 2010.

Neelakantapilla, Vyshnavi (2010). Labour Rights under the Indian Constitution,

available at http://www.lawyersclubindia.com/articles/Labour-Rights-under-
the-Indian-constitution-3300.asp, accessed on 5 March 2012.

Pilla, Sudha(2011). The Social Protection Floor in India, Planning Commission

of India, available at www.icsw.org/doc/2011-Social-Protection-Floor-in-
India.doc, accessed on 19 March 2012.

Sharma, Parul (2007). Split Legal Regime in India’s Labour Laws, Journal for
Sustainable Development, , available at http://www.southasiaexperts. se/
pdf/Indian%20Labour%20Law%20PDF.pdf, accessed on 27 January 2009.

Sircar, Oishik (2007). The Trade-off Between Protection and Freedom,

Infochange News and Features, June 2007, available at http://
infochangeindia.org/20070517179/Women/Analysis/The-trade-off-between-
protection-and-freedom.html , accessed on 5 December 2009.

Sood, Deepika, Indian Perspective on Right to Health, available at http://

www.legalindia.in/indian-perspective-of-right-to-health, accessed on 14 March
2012.

Sudarshan, Ratna M.(2009). ‘Examining India’s National Regional Employment

Guarantee Act: Its Impact and Women’s Participation’, Social Protection in
Asia Working Paper Issue 05, May.

Vyas, Aparna. Food Security in India, available at http://theviewspaper.net/

food_security_in_india/, accessed on 4 March 2012.

2.13 SUGGESTED READINGS

1) Five Year Strategic Plan 2011-2016: Towards a New Dawn, Ministry of
Women and Child Development, Government of India, available at http:/
351
Legislation, Social /wcd.nic.in/MWCD_Strategic_Plan_10-02-2011.pdf, accessed on 15 March
Protection and Policy
2012.

2) Millenium Development Goals – India Country Report 2011, Central

Statistical Organization, Ministry of Statistics and Programme
Implementation, Government of India, available at

http://www.in.undp.org/content/dam/india/docs/mdg_india_2011.pdf,
accessed on 20 March 2012.

3) National Policy for the Empowerment of Women, Ministry of Women

and Child Development, Government of India, available at 2001 http:/
/wcd.nic.in/empwomen.htm, accessed on 15 March 2012.

4) Perspectives on Poverty in India: Stylized Facts from Survey Data, The

World Bank, Washington, 2011.

5) Report on Employment and Unemployment Survey 2009-10, The Labour

Bureau, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India,
October 2010.

6) Report of the National Commission on Enterprises in the Unorganized

Sector (NCEUS), 2006 available at www.nceus.com/reports/
socialsecurity2006, accessed on 5 March 2012.

7) Report of the National Commission on Enterprises in the Unorganized

Sector 2009: Skill Formation and Employment Assurance in the
Unorganized Sector.

352
 Table B: Government Schemes on Food and Nutrition Security: An Overview1
Name of Scheme Targeted group Identification of Beneficiaries Entitlement Comments
Annapoorna Yojana Destitutes above 65 years of Gram sabhas in rural areas and local 10 kg food grains per card per It appears that Annapurna has
age and not covered under bodies in urban areas to carry out the month, free of cost been discontinued in some
state or central social identification of these destitute. states. This is a violation of Court
security pension scheme. orders and the matter has been
taken up in the Supreme Court
by the Commissioners.

Antyodaya Anna Yojana Poorest of the poor in rural Gram sabhas in rural areas and local Rs. 2/kg for wheat and Rs. 3/ The Supreme Court has directed
and urban areas. They are bodies in urban areas carry out kg for rice, 25 kg food grain the Government of India to
issued special yellow ration identification from amongst the poor per family per month, through provide Antyodaya cards to all
cards families within the state. the PDS Primitive Tribal people.

Family Benefit Scheme BPL Families who have lost Identification done with the A lump sum amount of Rs.
their primary bread winner assistance of panchayats 10,000

Targeted Public Primarily, below poverty line Through a ‘BPL Survey’ conducted Differs across states, and in most
Distribution Scheme families once in five years cases it is 35 kgs per family per
month, at rates prescribed by the
govt.

Integrated Child Pre-school children, This is a universal scheme; any person includes immunisation, It is the only programme that
Development Scheme adolescent girls, pregnant who is in the target group is eligible to supplementary nutrition, extends from pregnant women
and lactating women receive the benefit of these services. It health and nutrition education, and nursing mothers to cover
aims at reducing the incidence of growth monitoring, pre-school infants and children up to the
mortality, morbidity and malnutrition education and referral age of six; is a major tool to
in children & adolescent grils and services. secure children’s right to food
enhancing the capability of mother to
look after the health and nutritional
needs of the children
1
Source: http://www.righttofoodindia.org/schemes/scheme.html, accessed on 18 March 2012

Important Legislations
and Landmark
Judgements
353
354

Protection and Policy

Legislation, Social
Maternity Benefit BPL women during their first Selection happens through primary Rs. 500, as one time
Scheme two live births health care centre entitlement.

Mid-Day Meal Scheme All children in government
and aided primary schools
upto Std VIII
This is an universal scheme, and all
children are eligible to receive
cooked meals
Fresh cooked meal on each
working day, with the
stipulated, nutritive and
calorific value, for at least
200 days in a year.

Pension schemes: Destitute aged, widows, and Identification is done through Amount differs in each state
Indira Gandhi National disabled Panchayati Raj bodies with, minimum of Rs. 75 /
Old Age Pension Scheme month. Under IGNOAPS,
(IGNOAPS), Indira Central government provides
Gandhi National Widow Rs. 200/- per month and state
Pension Scheme governments contribute Rs.
(IGNWPS), Indira Gandhi 200-1000 a month. Under
National Disability IGNWPS and IGNDPS, central
Pension Scheme government contributes Rs.
(IGNDPS) 200 per month with an equal
contribution from the state
government.