SOCIAL SECURITY- A STEP TOWARDS EQUALITY
Each one of us is born differently, each one of us thinks differently and each one of us acts differently. To harmonise all these differences and for all round development of individual personality, society is being formed. The society provides protection to all the individuals who are in need of that protection, especially in the contingencies such as retirement, resignation, retrenchment, death and disablement which are beyond the control of individual members of the Society. The society is thus, both a system and a concept, that provides security cover to the poor, weak, deprived and the ones who are at the disadvantage.
Traditionally, in India, the responsibility of providing such kind of social security is being owned by the family and / or community. However, as the rate of urbanization increased and the plight of people broke the joint families to nuclear ones, this responsibility got institutionalised and the state-cum-society regulated arrangements and programmes came in forefront to take care of individuals in need of that protection. India’s central and state governments, since independence, offer a range of social security programmes for medical care, sickness benefit, employment injury benefit etc. and the welfare schemes across various sections of society including farmers, unemployed youth, old etc. From time to time there has been an alteration and/or addition in these schemes as per the need and circumstances, yet the outcome has remained far from the target.
The main purpose of all these social security programs was to reduce inequalities by selective redistribution of income to the target group, provide a minimum living to the deprived ones, increase their productive potential and create conditions in which market economy can flourish, notably by encouraging workers to accept innovation and change. However, even after seven decades of independence these programs haven’t been able to solve this very purpose and the disparity between rich and poor rather than getting narrowed down has widened further. According to a recent report, India is now among the most unequal countries in the world with top 10% of the population earning 57% of the national income and the very elite top 1% earning 22%. The share of the bottom 50% in national income has declined to meagre 13%. Every year 63 million of ordinary Indians are being pushed into poverty because of healthcare costs and every second almost two people get dragged down to below the poverty line. The inequality is so much that it would take 941 years for a minimum wage worker in rural India to earn what the top paid executive at a leading Indian garment company earns in a year.
The main reason for failure of most of these existing schemes has been a poor organisational support, selfish motives, corruption at many levels and more importantly the over interference as well as involvement of the middlemen. Rather than strengthening and modifying the already existing programmes and adding the schemes to uplift the socio-economic status of majority of people, the temporary ways to lure poor people for selfish motives are being adopted. The offering of money on gender basis, reduction of power bills on unit basis and provision of free ration and rice to downtrodden are the very few examples of such motives with neither permanent nor long lasting benefits. Such kind of random economic offerings lack rational basis, discourage people from working and in long run is going to ruin both the youth and economy of the country, finally leading on to bankruptcy.
Almost 88% of India’s labour force is in an informal sector and are employed as daily wage labourers without contracts, as landless farm labourers or as small traders – majority of them and their families having no access to appropriate social security. The free financial assistance is only going to encourage them to withdraw from the labour market prematurely and families can fall into poverty as a result of unforeseen expenses, loss of income due to illness, accidents or death of the primary earner. The best way to provide social security to such section of society is to formalise and register each labourer, connect them with the existing welfare schemes and transfer the benefits directly to their accounts. In addition, rather than distributing money freely on the basis of whims and fantasies, the minimum price should be fixed for every kind of labour work irrespective of the gender and paid accordingly. For all practical purposes, the social security organised only on such kind of firm and sound basis will promote progress, make people more productive, reduce economic inequality and provide target based growth of one and all.
Dr. Pawan Suri
Director & Chief Cardiologist
Global Hospital, Jalandhar
Email: psuricardio@gmail.com
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