Anjula Singh

Renu Verma

Aradhana Singh

Saumya Shukla

Akriti Gupta

Protecting the vulnerable- Providing social welfare to informal sector

workers

Informal sector in India-

India's UNORGANISED SECTOR created

57% of the Indian Net Domestic Product in

2006, about 9 fold less per worker than the

organized sector.

According to the NCEUS, only about 7%

of the total workforce in India has any form

of social security.

Among INFORMAL WORKERS, 42.7%

worked from HOME and another 7.7%

ON STREETS directly in front of their

homes.

In JOB- BASED CONCEPT OF

INFORMALITY about 87.8% of all

employed respondents are grouped as

informal workers, among which 92% are

YOUTH, 91.3% are WOMEN. MEN and

those in MIDDLE- AGE GROUP(25-39)

constitute the FORMAL SECTOR.

Job –based concept Enterprise –

based concept

Proxy operationalization

Full operationalization- by Hussmanns (2004)

Informal

Workers

INFORMAL ECONOMY

% INFORMAL WORKERS IN INDIA

INFORMAL

WORKERS

FORMAL

WORKERS94%

6%

Negative aspects of informal economy-

• Unfair competition for good enterprises;

• Less, or no tax income for the states;

• Less, or no social security contributions for the states;

• No decent wages for workers

• Less savings ☞ no capital

• Less spending ☞ weak domestic market

• More occupational injuries/diseases;

• Damage to the human capital ☞ no future…

Identification Fragmentation

Social security

and protection

Convergence

Financial

Exclusion

Decent

work

Decent

pay

AASRA

SCHEME

Mission: All those who work have rights at work,

irrespective of where they work and how they

work.

SOCIAL SECURITY –

(medical care, sickness, old age,

employment injury, family circumstances,

maternity leave)

SOCIAL PROTECTION –(

identification, dignity, equality,)

DECENT AND ORGANISED

WORK-(better working conditions,

recognition, flexibility, certainty)

DECENT INCOME –(fixed minimum

wage, loans, pension, welfare fund )

Better standards of living –( education,

vocational training , computer training

, Small entrepreneurial ventures )

Region wise registration of workers for

identification and authentication facilitated

by a central management team backed by

technological and organizational enablers

and volunteers at AASRA CENTRES

Recruitment of workers on the basis of

their skills, family conditions and

employers requirement(if necessary)

Strict surveillance and monitoring

committee

Exposure to existing beneficial schemes

for workers

CONVERGENCE with multilateral

agencies, government, trade unions,

employer’s federation, NGO’s,

universities at international and national

level

Identification

Social security

Social protection

Proving access to them to

existing schemes and better

plans

Relevant, timely and reliable

income and statistics

Potential Skills and

knowledge enhancement

programmes

Job security

Defragmentation

Protection against any

criticism and irresponsible

social behaviour

VISION IMPLEMENTATION ADVANTAGES

To provide -

Recruitment : outlining steps for the selection of AASRA employees

01

Graduation required

Computer and IT skills required

Good knowledge of English (compulsory)

Hindi/Local language is also required

Should be good in social behaviour and public handling

Volunteers drawn from various service professions, retired executives and graduate

students

Block Level -- 11 employees

District Level -- 15 employees (managing block level)

Mandal Level -- 10 employees (monitoring district level)

State Level -- 5 employees (supervising mandal level)

National Level -- 1 representative from each state

Manager (1) Supervisor (2) Employees (4)

Block Level

Description

Organisation

Hierarchy

Eligibility/

Skills

Required

# Employees Description : Registration head, Accountant, H R

manager , enquiry/complain head

Management : managing the informal workers and their employers

02

Manager : sole head of the organisation at the block level, manages all the

activities and monitors the work of supervisor, legal framework

Supervisor : supervision of lower officials , record keeping and

surveillance, better demographic planning

Registration Head : getting informal workers and employers registered (identity verification ,

educational, family and income details )

H R Manager : deals with statutory social security coverage, skill development training , accessibility

collaboration and promotion of the beneficial schemes , promotion to better sector (if eligible), better

national and international framework ,representation of workers

Accountant : managing finance, funds, accounts , pension, insurance and loans

Enquiry/Complaint Head : deals with public feedback and enquiries both from the informal

workers and the employers

1. Online and manual detailed registration of the informal workers and the employers at the AASRA CENTERS /AASRA WEBSITE

2. Employers should specify their needs( kind of work, timings, any other)

3. Domestic workers should specify their areas of expertise, timings, working conditions and education details

4. Allotment will be on “FIRST COME FIRST SERVE ” basis considering requirements and specifications preference will be given to widows,

divorcee, single earning member and physically challenged

5. Pay for every work will be fixed and predetermined in accordance with “MINIMUM WAGE ACT”.

6. A day’s work can be construed as ‘8 hours work’ and wages to be calculated accordingly; If appointed for lesser hours in a day, wages should

be in proportion and be calculated either daily or monthly basis for that category of work

7. Prohibited the employment of children below the age of ‘14’ years

8. Daily wages should be calculated by dividing the monthly rate by 26 and rounded off to the nearest 10 paisa

9. A minimal amount will be deducted from their salary and equal sum of money will be paid by the government , this gross amount

can be accessed by the workers at the time of need (in the form of loans, pension, medical aids , casualty, etc) . The ordinary wages should be

paid for overtime work.

10. Mode of payment will be through challan slips and therefore their salary will be directly transferred to their respective accounts

11. Unregistered workers /employers will be punished under the law.

12. Surveillance committee will send “inspector” to inspect any domestic premises under any of the Labour Enactments & Rules

13. Complaint handling – complains against the worker/ employer will be filed and accordingly surveillance will be setup. If found guilty they

will be panelised and their registration will be cancelled for a year, and if not then the person concerned who have filed the application will be

punished

14. If the worker/ employer have filed the complaint should have justified reason

15. Crouches and primary education will b e provided to the worker’s children

16. Medical facilities will b provided to them at subsidised rates

17. Counselling will be done on monthly basis to make them aware of existing schemes.

18. Skill enhancement training will provided to the workers.

19. If workers found suitable for better work, they will be awarded a better sector of work (teaching, care takers of the crouches)

20. maternity leave will be given for 3 months by the government in which she will be given Rs. 300/month, which can be recovered by

deducting Rs. 75/month for a year

21. another worker will be allotted for these 3 months, at overtime wages

IMPLEMENTATION ON

DOMESTIC WORKERS

1. Online and manual registration of day

labours/ thekedars (construction site labours

and agricultural farms)

2. Recruiters should mention workforce,

duration of tenure, facilities available (if

any) and other details.

3. Necessary allowances: personal allowances,

basic safety measures and first-

aid(compulsory).

4. Wages will be fixed on the basis of:

5. Allotment of work will be on the basis of :

IMPLEMENTATION ON DAY LABOURS

6. Recruiters should have provisions for above

mentioned compulsory allowances, failing

which will leads to cancellation of their

registration.

7. Recruiters who required labour( at least for a

month) will have to register else if the

recruiters require labours on the daily basis

will have to report at the AASRA centre and

available labours will be allotted on the spot

after submitting half of fixed payment in

advance.

8. Recruiter of the labours can file complaints

if they are facing any sort of problem or

unsatisfied.

9. Vocational, skill enhancement and hands on

industrial training(equipment, material

handling etc.) will be provided.

10. Medical, educational and beneficial scheme

will be made accessible.

i. Working conditions

ii. Type of work

iii. Working hours

iv. Other facilities

v. Tenure

i. Age

ii. Gender

iii. Health

iv. Skills expertise(if desired)

v. Area under reach

Online and manual detailed registration of street vendors(vegetables seller, thelawalas, etc ) at AASRA CENTRES market place will be sectorised an organised market will be created for street vendors in the nearby locality the opening and closing time of the market place will be pre- decided and those vendors who want to sell their products will have to

come to this place only depending on the entry of the registered vendors, they will be allotted the specific local market where they can sell their products in

the peak hours in usual hours(excluding peak hours), vendors are to sell their products by taking rounds (feri). during their usual working hours they have to wear their identity cards (mandatory). street vendors without registration will be panelised registered vendors can file complaint against unregistered ones periodic inspection will be done prices of the products in the local market in accordance with mandi prices quality of the products in the market will be maintained and inspected, failure of which will leads to cancellation of the registration customers queries ( prices, feedback, enquiry) will be resolved through sms/e-mail/AASRA centres customer can place the order through sms/e-mail/call specifying date, time and venue. In this case they have to pay service charge

too. registered vendors will get products from the local market at subsidised rate free accounts will be opened for the registered vendors with ease, where they can submit some amount which will be paid higher

rate of interest after the age of 50 loans will be easily provided to them at low interest rate they will be provided access to better medical aids at subsidised rates primary education will be provided ( night schools, government educational centres) rest rooms facilitated with basic amenities (drinking water, washrooms, crèches, first aid ) in the local market place which will be

accessible to customers and vendors safety measures (guards, policemen, fire- extinguishers ) will be provided

IMPLEMENTATION ON STREET VENDORS

CHALLENGES AND RISKS

MITIGATION FACTORS

Uneducated and ignorant informal workers do not analyse the value of

their registration and identification.

They are conservative so may be there will be problems in deducting

some amount of their salary as development funds

Government and society people may behave indifferently to the scheme

and it’s hard for them to accept it

Workers should have the faith in the scheme

Government or co-operates funding to this scheme

Infrastructure may be a problem ( but this can be compromised if AASRA

centres are running in the block only).

Integration of such a large sector may pose a problem

CONVERGENCE- with multilateral

agencies, government, trade unions,

employer’s federation, NGO’s,

universities at international and national

level

ENHANCEMENT CENTRES running

under AASRA CENTRES will impart

various planned skills and workshops

PROPAGATION- of the scheme through

T.V , radio, media, pamphlets distribution,

advertising /awareness campaign, etc.

INTEGRATION with formal education in

various universities, schools

COUNCELLING of the informal workers

will be carried periodically.

FUNDING from various sources NGOs ,

non – government organisations

• Computer literacy

• English proficiency

• Public dealing

• Basic accounting

• Smarter way to do their work by using available technology

• To use FIRST-AID in efficiently.

• Hospitality

SKILLS IMPARTED AT ENHANCEMENT

CENTRES

TOTAL COST /ANNUM

Promotional Cost : (PAMPHLETS, MEDIA , TELEVISION, RADIO, TRAINING

INSTITUTES, ENHANCEMENT CENTRES )

Rs. 5 LAKHS (approximately)

FOUNDATION COST

ORGANISATIONAL COST:

STATE LEVEL OFFICIALS – Rs. 3,50,000(5 *

70,000)

MANDAL LEVEL OFFICIALS– Rs. 6,00,000

(10 * 60,000)

DISTRICT LEVEL OFFICIALS – Rs. 8,25,000

( 15 * 55,000)

BLOCK LEVEL OFFICIALS—

# Manager- Rs. 50,000 (1 * 50,000)

# Supervisor –Rs. 80,000 (2 * 40,000)

# lower officials – Rs. 1,20,000( 4 * 30,000)

INFRASTRUCTU-

RAL COST :

If operates in existing

government building

then no funding

required

Otherwise approx. Rs.

10 crores /

annum/state

TECHNOLOGI-

CAL COST :

Rs. 2 crores

/annum

APPENDIX References:-

• Bhalla, S. (2003). The Restructuring of the Unorganized Sector in India.

Retrieved from

http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/sereport/ser/restruc/stdy_rsturc

_ch1.pdf

• National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized sector. (2009).

The Challenge of Employment in India. Retrieved from

http://dcmsme.gov.in/The_Challenge_of_Employment_in_India_(Vol.%

20II).pdf

• Kulshreshtha, A.C. (2011). Measuring the Unorganized Sector in India.

Retrieved from

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1837193

• Wikipedia

• http::// www.ilo.org

• Background doc1 for paper39

• www.indiancag.org