Turf war may delay Bill on social security

The draft Bill on social security for unorganised workers that will make the state responsible for social welfare of 80 per cent of the country's workforce, is likely to be delayed because of a turf war between the Ministry of Labour and the Department of Posts.

The draft Bill, appended to the report of the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS) chaired by Arjun Sengupta, was submitted to the prime minister last month.

It envisaged health benefits, life insurance and Provident Fund or old-age pension for the country's 30 crore unorganised workers.

As per the report, the cost of the scheme will be met by contributions from identifiable employers, Centre and state governments and workers at the rate of Re 1 per day.

Workers below the poverty line will be exempt from paying the contribution which will be paid by the Union government on their behalf. If the employer is not identified, the Union government will pay his share also. The cost incurred will be shared by the Centre and states in 75:25 ratio. At least a part of it, if not the whole sum, is expected to be funded through a tax or cess.

But the dispute is over who will administer the scheme. The Sengupta report suggests that already familiar with the concept of social security, the 140,000 post offices throughout the country could be re-tooled to administer this service as well.

But, the Ministry of Labour has laid proprietory claim to the scheme. As the labour ministry has no network, it will appoint labour officers, who will help in administering it. This is bound to push up the administrative cost of the scheme, already at a whopping .5 per cent of the total size.

"We are the ministry responsible for the scheme. If the complaints about implementation can come to us, then we retain the right to administer the scheme," said a top official in the labour ministry.

The features of the scheme are unexceptionable. It envisages hospitalisation benefits for the worker and family to the tune of Rs 15,000 per year, maternity benefit to the extent of Rs 1,000 and sickness allowance of Rs 15 per day beyond three days of hospitalization.

It also visualises life insurance to the tune of Rs 15,000 and a provident fund for with assured return of 10 per cent for workers above the poverty line, and a monthly pension of Rs 200 for those above 60 years living below the poverty line.

The insurance component was to have been made available through public sector insurance companies and postal life insurance network. But if the labour ministry insists on having its way, a whole new network will have to be put in place before the scheme is considered by Cabinet.

The PM has indicated he would like the scheme to come up for passage in the monsoon session of Parliament. Some 'political initiative' is likely to be proposed to break the logjam, sources in the commission said.