This article is written by Aditee Arya, student of BBALLB’8 from Gittaratan International Business School affiliated to GGS Indraprastha University.

Abstract

The article at first gives a brief definition to what an organized sector is and who are those who works under this sector. What areas of industries are covered by the unorganized sector in India. It also most of all focuses on some schemes and projects that the government of India be it central government or state government has introduced in the country for the social security and protection of unorganized sector employees and employers as well. 

The article covers some latest and some old schemes which has created some difference in the situation of the unorganized sector. There have been many numbers of schemes brought up the governments. It will show to what extent the government spends on this scheme from the budget and how far has they reached to them. It will discuss the eligibility of those who can enroll themselves for the scheme and how much benefitted they will be if they avail the benefits as said under the several schemes by the government.

Introduction

• To find welfare schemes for unorganized sector in India we must know how an entity is considered to be unorganized. Some of the features which characterizes an entity to be unorganized are:

1. If it a small-scale entity and has a local ownership.
2. If it does not have any legal status.
3. If it is flexible in fixation of prices.
4. If it does not have proper packaging and production.
5. Its entry and exit from the market are easy.
6. Employees of unorganized sector have lower security in job, and they are more victimized by their employers in context of unfair practices like termination of job, less wages, less no. of holidays and more work and discrimination in workplace etc.

• The government has taken some steps to protect the employees working in unorganized sector and help them by promoting them through some welfare schemes such as:

Starting with the latest schemes we will find these two-scheme bought by the government of India:

1. National Pension Scheme For Traders And The Self-employed Persons

• This scheme was made under Unorganized Workers Social Security Act, 2008 section 3(1) for Vyapari’s to protect them in their old age. This scheme’s objective is to provide social security and old age protection to the shopkeepers/ traders/ self-employed people called the vyapari’s between the age of 18-40 years who are not engaged in EPFO/ESIC/PM-SYM. having annual turnover not more then 1.5 Crore in rupees. They are the shopkeepers or owners who have petty or small shops, restaurants, hotels, real estate brokers etc. 

2. Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan Yojana

• The scheme PM-SYM was made to protect unorganized workers who perform work like street vendors, agriculture related work, construction site workers, workers in industries of leather, handloom, mid-day meal, rikshaw or auto wheelers, rag picking, carpenters, Hamals, fisherman’s etc. the scheme aimed to give them social security who are not engaged in EPFO/ESIC and who does not qualify to be taxpayer between the age of 18-40 years. 

3. Pradhan Mantri Rozgar Protsahan Yoajna

• This scheme was brought by the government to create employment for the unskilled or semi-skilled workers by providing incentives to the employers. The government will fully contribute to the employees’ provident scheme and the employees provident fund on behalf of the employers, who have registered themselves in the employee’s provident fund organization. To avail this, benefit the employees must have a UAN (Universal Account Number).
•  The government will contribute 12% in EPF for the employees for three years of their job but conditional that they should be employed under the same employer for the complete three years spam. 

4. Aam Aadmi Bima Yoajna

• The scheme was brought by the GOI for the people whose family income falls below the poverty line (BPL) or marginally above the BPL covered under vocational group and are between the age of 18-59 years.
• This scheme acts as a social security scheme because it provides for insurance cover for the people who are categorized under vocational groups or rural landless households such as fisherman, rikshaw pullers, beedi workers, brick kiln workers, lady tailors, tannery workers, papad workers, primary milk producers, tendu leaf collectors, forest workers etc.
• The people benefited with this scheme can claim for insurance from the nodal agency when some mishap occurs like permanent total disability, or death due to accident, loss of one eye and one limb due to accident.

5. Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana

• Under this scheme the government will provide monetary support to those who will get unemployed. This will be available to those who have worked for at least 2 years preceding the date of unemployment. Only those persons who were insured and have contributed for minimum of 78 days during previous four contribution periods.
• ESI Act 1948, section 2(9), covers those employees who are eligible for this scheme.
• The relief can be claimed for a period of 90 days of unemployment only throughout the lifetime.

6. Central Sector Scheme For Rehabilitation Of Bonded Labourer, 2016

• This scheme was first introduced in 1975 where it was the state government’s duty to identify, rescue and rehabilitate the bonded labor and the central government would assist them in financial terms on 50-50 basis. The scheme has been changed since then several times and now in 2016. 
• Now after the revised guidelines of the scheme the state government does not need to pay any financial assistance to the rehabilitation of bonded labors instead the ministry of labor and employment will provide the assistance for their rehabilitation of up to 4.5 lakhs for each district. The amount they will receive will be deposited in the annuity scheme making them the beneficiary for e.g. If it an adult male then 1 lakh, if it is some women, children, or transgender then three-lakhs.

7. Gatidhara Scheme For Self-employment

• Gatidhara is a scheme launched the west Bengal government. This scheme was related to the transport department for giving employment to the youth who has registered themselves as unemployed. They would get employment in the transport sector of the west Bengal state.
• Eligibility: all those who age between 20-45 years will get employment under this scheme having family income of less than 25,000 rupees per month. Only one member from each household could apply for this.
• The beneficiaries would get a subsidy of up to 1,00,000 rupees and if female then 1.5 lakhs.

8. Grant In Aid Scheme To NGO’s For Welfare Of Women Labour

• This scheme was bought by the government to create awareness among women laborer’s as we all know they are not much educated and aware about their rights so government planned to provide them with knowledge of what they can have.
• The scheme was to give assistance in finance to the NGO’S or voluntary organization which are formed for the welfare of the women, so government would provide the organizations finance so that they can arrange campaigns and movements across different places and spread the information related to different scheme and constitutional and other provisional rights they have like remuneration, holidays, pay work and hours of working and minimum wages etc. 

9. Atal Pension Yojana

• This scheme aimed at providing social security to the employees of private sector or those unorganized sectors who does not offer pension benefits to their employees on their retirement. If someone want to vail themselves under this scheme, he/she should be an Indian citizen and between the age of 18-40 years having bank account linked with Aadhar.
• The contributor can on his choice attain a pension of 1000-5000 rupees, or he can also get an accumulated sum of the pension after his death. The accumulated amount will be given to the spouse or if the spouse is dead as well then to the nominee. The contributor must have contributed for t lest of 20 years of his employment. This scheme gives a sense of social security to the person in case of accident, illness, or diseases etc.

10. Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana

• This scheme is to provide socio-economic security to the BPL workers by providing them with health insurances. A person who with a family of five members can enroll for this scheme if he is categorized under BPL.
• The central government will contribute 75% of the amount and 25% will be contributed by the state government. The beneficiaries only have to pay thirty rupees of registration (per annum for all) as premium.
• The insurance sum will be of 30,000 rupees per annum for each family enrolled under the scheme. Currently there are three crore persons enrolled to the scheme.
• The insured sum will cover expenses incurred in hospital, previous illness if any and any common illness.

11. Revised Integrated Housing Scheme

• The scheme intends to help workers working in mines like iron, manganese, limestone, mica etc. the workers for a minimum of one year period should be registered with labor welfare organization. The applicant must not have any pucca house oh his own or of his house or anyone related to him in Indian territory. The applicant must not have availed benefit of any other housing scheme previously. It is also required that the applicant must have land for residential purpose either on owned or leased for 20 years which can be extended. 
• The scheme requires many requirements from a minor worker like the land should be minimum 60 square feet which is for the general category and that the house must be built within 18 months but along with it there are also many benefits for the beneficiaries like they will get a subsidy of 1,50,000 for building the house in three installments into the beneficiary’s bank account. The deposit does not have to deposit any sum of money to withdraw the subsidy form the bank account deposited by the government.

12. Garib Kalyan Rozgar Yojana

• The scheme was bought by the government of India to promote employment opportunities for migrant workers, in June 2020 with a budget of 50,000 crore rupees. This scheme was bought because of COVID-19 during which many workers were shifted from one place to another having huge loses in their livelihood because of loss of employment during the lockdown period.
• For this scheme 25 types of working areas were identified such as, PM Kusum Works, cattle sheds, poultry shed, goat sheds, shyama prasad Mukherjee RURBAN mission, workers in national highways, in construction of wells etc. which made the tally of migrated workers to 670,000. 
• The scheme will give employment for one hundred and twenty-five days.

13. Mahatma Gandhi Bunkar Bima Yojana

• This scheme was introduced in 2005 for providing insurance benefits to the workers of handloom industry, as wee can see the scheme provides for insurance benefit to the handloom industry workers if they happen any casualty which leads to death or disability partial or full.
• Applicants of this scheme should be engaged with state handloom development corporation, ranging between age of 18 to 59 years. If there is a natural death, then a sum of 60,000 rupees will be provided and 1,50,000 rupees in case of accidental death and full disability.
• An annual premium of rupees 330 will be given whose breakage will be as follows, 150 rupees by government of India, one hundred rupees by life insurance corporation of India the best part is the weaver does not need to pay any amount for premium.

14. Deen Dayal Updhyaya Antyodaya Yojana (Day)

• Ajeevika scheme was replaced by DAY, the purpose of DAY is to skill people to train them in rural and in urban areas as well. Its target was to train half a million people from urban area and one million people from rural are by the end of 2016 and 2017, respectively. 
• The scheme aims to create employment by providing training to people and make them self-employed by enabling loans provisions so that they can set up small scale business or self-help groups in urban areas. 
• Scheme established SVEP which start-up village entrepreneurship program which acts like sub-scheme of this scheme. The scheme aims to enhance skills and self-business by financing and supporting the poor.

15. Nirman Kamgar Awas Shayata Yojana 

• Construction Workers mostly come from the poor or rural sections of the society. Therefore, most of them do not have the convenience of their home. Nor do they have enough money to build or buy their own house. Keeping this in mind, the Uttar Pradesh Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board runs ‘Construction Worker’s Housing Assistance Scheme’ for construction workers. Under this, workers are given financial assistance to build or buy a house.
• This assistance amount to 1 lakh rupees. It is paid in two installments. Apart from building a house, the UP government also aids the laborers for the repair of a house, which is Rs 15,000. But the same beneficiary does not get both benefits simultaneously.

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