During crises like pandemic, floods, bandh, the immediate adverse effect is visible among the common people, especially those who are working in the informal sector.
Let us understand some statistics regarding the informal employment structure. In our country, around 50 crore are working and 90 per cent are in the informal sector. That means, about 45 crore are working in this sector and these people include rickshaw pullers, restaurant workers, salesmen, roadside sellers, part-time construction workers and domestic servants, among others. The remaining 5 crore are working in the formal sector, either government or private.
Informal sector workers have no social security or minimum wages though certain benefits are there in the form of PM Kisan, MEGHA PENSION Scheme, New Jal Shaktey etc.
Announcing the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) given the ongoing 21-day countrywide lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said on March 26 that payment of Rs 500 would be credited to women Jan Dhan account holders for the next three months.
The Code on Wages Bill, 2019, by Narendra Modi is yet another way to reach that segment of people in respect of minimum wages, health, sanitation and housing. The bill ensures minimum wages along with timely payment of wages to all employees and workers. Many unorganised sector workers, who were outside the ambit of minimum wages, will get legislative protection of minimum wages after the bill becomes an act.
Finance Minister Nirmala along with RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das brought some effective measures which are keeping our economy in active mode so that our informal workforce could go back to work once lockdown is over.
India is becoming strong in respect of GDP but certain measures need to be taken to make productive the so-called informal sector as around 54 per cent is contributed to GDP in India.
India will recover from the crisis soon however certain measure should be viewed with greater precision if we can roll out.
(Contributed by
Rajesh Choudhury)