The Hindu Business Line : New draft of unorganised sector workers' Bill presented to PM

More benefits
The Bill is intended to cover around 362 million workers in the informal sector, including small and marginal farmers, agricultural workers and domestic workers, and informal workers in the organised sector.
The scheme would provide Rs 15,000 per year hospital benefits for workers and their families and also Rs 15,000 life insurance.

New Delhi , May 16

The latest draft of the Unorganised Sector Workers' Bill has proposed benefits such as health cover, sickness allowance, maternity benefit and life insurance cover, pension for all workers in the unorganised sector with a salary of less than Rs 6,500 per month.

The new draft was presented to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, here on Tuesday by Dr Arjun Sengupta headed National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS).

Informal sector

The Bill is intended to cover around 362 million workers in the informal sector, including small and marginal farmers, agricultural workers and domestic workers, and informal workers in the organised sector.

It has proposed a National Minimum Social Security Scheme. Apart from other benefits, it provides for a provident fund (PF) cover with an assured return of 10 per cent for workers above poverty line. For below poverty line (BPL) workers, an old-age pension of Rs 200 per month has been suggested.

Other benefits

The scheme would provide Rs 15,000 per year hospital benefits for workers and their families and also Rs 15,000 life insurance. The draft Bill also proposes to provide sickness allowance to the workers amounting to Rs 15 per day beyond 3 days of hospitalisation.

According to the proposals, the large network of post offices would be utilised for making payments under the new Bill. It also suggests constitution of a nodal National Social Security Board (NSSB) headed by a Chief Executive Officer.

The commission has estimated the cost of the scheme, a much-debated issue that is said to have delayed the Bill, to be Rs 7,367 crore (0.20 per cent of GDP) in the first year and Rs 25,401 crore (0.48 per cent of GDP) in the fifth year when it reaches the last worker.

Speaking to reporters after presenting the copy of the Bill, Dr Sengupta said that "It was not the Commission's job to say how the financial cost will be borne. That is the responsibility of the Government."

Expenditure

The Government could find the money through reallocation, from existing revenue or by imposing a social security tax, he said adding that the expenditure will be worth it considering the huge benefits from the scheme for the poor workers.

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