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 Unorganised workers, be they wage labour, home

based workers or self employed workers, with their
dependents account for the bulk of our population
 Contribute to two thirds of our national product
 Form 93% of our workforce

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 A comprehensive law encompassing all aspects of their work and life
at work including regulation of their
- Employment,
- Wages,
- Social security,
- Safety & conditions of work

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 Their lawful right as the citizens and workers of our
country
 Not a munificence from the Government But now
Serious discontent among the vast masses of
unorganized workers about the contents of the Act

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 Second National Labour Commission,
 Report of the Petitions Committee of Lok Sabha,
 Report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee for
Labour
 Report along with draft laws prepared by the National
Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector

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 “To provide for social security and welfare to the unorganised
workers and for other matters connected therewith or incidental
thereto“.
 Term "social security" is not defined in the law;
 Even more strangely , the term does not occur in the body of the law
in any substantive sense.
 Emphasis seems to be only on schemes of welfare.
Not a social security Act for unorganised workers

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 Schedule I of the Act describes applicable "welfare" schemes
 Schemes listed out in Schedule I are for the general
population and not exclusively for workers,
 Bulk of these schemes are devised and designed as Poverty
Alleviation efforts meant for families below the Poverty Line.

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 The schemes meant for BPL families also constitute "welfare"
schemes for unorganised workers
 National Campaign Committee for Unorganised Sector
Workers suspect that this Act is essentially for workers below
the Poverty Line
 An attempt is to create a divide among workers as being
above or below the Poverty Line.

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 Commencement of the Act is left to be decided by
the Central Government.
 Not even a time limit, say 12 months, has been
prescribed.

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 The Act prescribes that nonpayment of the contribution disentitles
the worker from getting any benefits. So it is a contributory scheme.
 Without any employment, the workers will not be able to pay even
the minimal contribution.
 Lack of full time and regular employment is the biggest concern of
unorganised workers. The Act does not address the basic issue
facing them.

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 The Act does not define the "Family"
 There is a danger that in the interpretation of the “family" may be
restricted to include only the worker, his/her spouse and up to two
children.
 Dealing with the most disadvantaged sections of our society and
keeping in view our social traditions of strong family ties, it is
desirable to also include parents of the worker and/or the spouse,
dependent widowed sister, dependent widowed daughter-in-law and
so on.
 Without this, the "Social" in social security will not attain its full stature.

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 The Act defines an unorganised worker as "a home based
worker, self employed worker, or a wage worker in the
unorganised sector......".
 The term "Unorganised Sector" restricts the coverage to those
enterprises employing workers who number less than 10 or
20 for enterprises not using power.
 Enough loopholes in the definition to deny the benefits

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Parliament is entitled to, and in fact obliged to, build into the
law
 what constitutes appropriate and adequate social security for
unorganised workers and their dependents,
 eligibility criteria,
 scale of benefits that they are entitled to receive and under
what conditions,
 the funding arrangements to meet the cost of social security

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 Our Parliamentarians have enacted a law which
enables the Central and State Governments to do
whatever they deem expedient.
 Workers have not been entitled to receive minimum
standards of social security, even after 60 years of
independence.

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 The Act as enacted is totally inadequate.
 Government ignored recommendations of all the workers’ organisations and its own commissions
 The law has failed to indicate clearly the extent of funds that must be earmarked for providing
social security and welfare.
 In all, the Act suffers from a serious lack of legislative policy and intent.

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Thank you

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