Stop piecemeal worker social security

• India is establishing social security for online gig workers, with a central scheme awaiting Cabinet approval.

• Benefits include health coverage under Ayushman Bharat, registration on the eShram portal for access to various social security schemes, and a transaction-based pension policy.

• The pension scheme acknowledges that gig workers can have multiple employers and ensures each contributes in a limited capacity towards worker welfare.

• The progress highlights the need for India to proactively reimagine its social security framework to address evolving challenges.

Critiques of the Current System

• India has yet to ratify the Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102), aiming to establish basic social security principles.

• The Code on Social Security (Code), one of India’s four new Labour Codes, has faced criticism for its ambiguous definitions, watered-down protections, and ongoing implementation challenges.

• The Code’s insistence on relying on welfare boards for the distribution of social welfare has been found to fall short of its intended goals.

The Problem with Incremental Approaches

• India’s fragmented, welfare-board run social welfare systems provide targeted relief to segments of workers in need, but relying on a piecemeal approach can fail to account for the precarious nature of all informal work.

• It is risky to assume that focusing on just one worker segment will automatically solve the challenge of formalising informal labour.

Towards Universal Social Protection Systems

• As India strives to make its workforce ‘future ready’, it is crucial to create robust social protection systems that can withstand workforce and sectoral changes.

• The Code allows States some flexibility to enact social security measures within its framework.