Overview of the Social Security Scheme in India: ESIC Scheme Essay

kindly security measures is both a concept as well as a system. It represents essenti altogethery a system of security measure of individuals who are in need of such protection by the State as an agent of the society. Such protection is relevant in contingencies such as retirement, resignation, retrenchment, death, disablement which are beyond the control of the individual members of the Society. Men are born differently they venture differently and act differently. State as an agent of the society has an authorised mandate to harmonise such differences through a protective interbreed to the poor, the weak, the deprived and the disadvantaged.The concept of well-disposed security is now generally un dependableed as meaning protection provided by the society to its members through a series of public measures against the economic and neighborly distress that otherwise is caused by the stoppage or substantial reduction of earnings resulting from sickness, maternity, particip ation injury, occupational diseases, unemployment, invalidity, old age and death. The International advertize Organisation (ILO) defines mixer tribute as the security that society furnishes through appropriate organization against trustworthy risks to which its members are perennially exposed.The ILO concept of neighborly security is based on the recognition of the fundamental cordial remediate field guaranteed by law to all human beings who live from their own labour and who find themselves unable to written report temporarily or permanently for reasons beyond their control. At the international level, the premise of the Constitution of ILO also referred to the need and protection of workers against sickness, disease and injury arising show up of their employment, pension for old age, and protection of the interests of the workers who were employed in countries other than their own. Thus, the right to Social Security was recognized officially for the first time. Subsequ ently, the UN General Assembly, dapple adopting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights also recognized the right to Social Security by stating that e really member of the society has a right to social security.Social Security has been recognised as an instrument for social displacement and progress and must be preserved, supported and developed as such. Furthermore, far from being an obstacle to economic progress as is more said, social security organised on a firm and sound basis will promote progress, since once men and women benefit from change magnitude security and are free from anxiety, will become more productive. at that place is considerable controversy about the social and economic effects of social security, and most of the current debate is focused on its supposedly disconfirming effects.Social Security is said to discourage people from working and conservation to reduce international competitiveness and employment creation, and to encourage people to trace f rom the labour market prematurely. On the other hand, social security shag also be seen to have a number of very lordly economic effects. It can help to make people capable of earning an income and to campaign their productive potential it may help to maintain effective charter at the national level and it may help create conditions, in which a market economy can flourish, notably by boost workers to accept innovation and change. Social security measures are generally income, precaution measures intended to provide a minimum life sentence to the people when they are deprived of the same due to invalidity, unemployment or old age.The two primary elements of social security are provision of a minimum living to those who are deprived of the same and selective redistribution of income to a target convention to reduce inequalities. Thus Social security is an instrument for social translation and good governance. According to the ILO- World Labour Report-2000, the total securit y economic consumption in India as component of GDP in 1996 was 1.8 whereas for the corresponding blockage the Social Security expenditure in Sri Lanka was 4.7, Malaysia 2.9 and China 3.6. In Argentina, the social security expenditure for the same period as a percentage of GDP reached the level of 12.4 and in case of Brazil 12.2. In coincidence to Argentina and Brazil, the expenditure on social security in India is much less. The expenditure on social security cannot be directly colligate alone to the economic development. Intervention of the State would be essential and a co-relationship may have to be established for faster economic development.Social Security in India was traditionally the responsibility of the family/community in general. With the moderate process of industrialization/urbanization, breakup of the joint family set up and debilitative of family bondage, the need for institutionalized and State-cum-society correct social security arrangement to cope the pr oblem in a planned manner in wider social/economic interest at national level has been felt necessary. Currently, on-going measures towards transformation process for trade and industry, increasing role of market forces and increase in longevity, in general world over has added a new proportionality to the issue and enhanced the requirement further towards a planned and regulated institutionalized measure in the form of social security in its common to a lower placestanding.Social Security in Organised Sector in IndiaThe social security schemes in India cover only a very small segment of the organised work force, which may be delimitate as workers who are having a direct regular employer-employee relationship at heart an organization. Out of an estimated work force of about 397 cardinal, only 28 million are having the benefit of formal social security protection.The Social Security Laws in India at present can be broadly carve up into two categories, namely, the contributory a nd the non-contributory. The contributory laws are those which provide for financing of the social security programmes by contributions paid by workers and employers and in some cases supplemented by contributions/grants from the Government. The important contributory schemes include the Employees State Insurance Act, 1948 and the thrifty Fund, reward and Deposit Linked Insurance Schemes framed under the Employees Provident pecuniary resource and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1948. The three major non-contributory laws are the Workmens stipend Act, 1923, the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 and the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972.Social Security in Unorganised Sector in India.As already mentioned, the reporting under Social Security is about 10% of the working population in general in the organised sector. The vast majority of the workforce is in the nonunionized sector, which includes agricultural labour, cultivators, small traders and hawkers, artisans and other self-employed perso ns, porters, auto-rickshaw drivers and other transport workers and so forth Bringing them under formal social security coverage has been engraft difficult due to the following reasons a) Seasonal and intermittent temper of work, prima(p) to difficulties in meeting the qualifying conditions. b) Low level and irregular intention of earnings and employment c) Absence of employer-employee relationship leading to difficulties in ascertain the principal employer and in assessing and recovering contributions. d) Relatively weak administrative structure, particularly in rural areas. Under the Employees State Insurance Scheme and Employees Provident Fund Scheme a very small segment of workers in the unorganized sector are covered. The huge gap in coverage in the unorganized sector requires for a fresh strategy to extend coverage of both the schemes to the unorganized sector.The unorganised workforce is characterised by fragmented and fragmented areas of employment, seasonality of empl oyment, lack of job security, low legislative protection because of their broken and dispersed nature, lack of awareness and high unemployment levels, perceived mis-match between the preparedness requirements and the training facilities available, low literacy levels, outmoded social customs like electric shaver marriage, excessive spending on ceremonial festivities leading to indebtedness and bondage, etc., native production technologies and feudal production relations are further impediments not facilitating these workers to imbibe and assimilate higher technologies and better production relations.The unorganised Labour can be categorised broadly into four categories as follows-a) line Small and marginal farmers, landless agricultural labourers, share croppers, fishermen, those engaged in creature husbandry, in beedi rolling beedi labelling and beedi packing workers in building and construction, etc. b) Nature of Employment Attached agricultural labourers, bonded labourers migrant workers, contract and passing(a) labourers come under this category. c) Specially distressed categories Toddy tappers, scavengers, carriers of head loads, drivers of animal driven vehicles, loaders and unloaders belong to this category. e) Service categories Midwives, domestic workers, fishermen and women, barbers, vegetable and fruit vendors, composition vendors etc. come under this category.The unorganised nature of the workforce, dispersed nature of operational processes and lack of institutional back up reduces their bargaining fountain and their ability to take full benefits from the Acts and legislations enacted for their benefits. Further, low skill levels of this workforce provides myopic scope for them to move vertically in the occupational ladder to better their financial situation. The growth of informal, unprotected work with shrinking formal employment compels the workers to bear an increasing direct burden of financing social needs, with perverse effects o n their quality of life. That burden may also vitiate the capacity of enterprises to compete with global economy.