(a) whether ninety four per cent of labourers are working in the unorganised sector in the
country;
(b) if so, whether in the absence of any forum for them they are not provided any legal
facility; and
(c) if so, the steps taken by the Government in this regard?
MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT(SHRI HARISH RAWAT)
(a) to (c): Accordingly to the survey conducted by National Sample Survey Organisation
(NSSO) in 2004-05, the total employment in both the organized and unorganized sector is
45.9 crore. Out of this, 43.3 crore were in the unorganized sector.
As present, there is no proposal under consideration of the Government to provide legal
facility to unorganised workers.
With a view to providing social security to unorganized workers, the government enacted the
Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008. The Act provides for constitution of National
Social Security Board which shall recommend social security schemes viz life and disability
cover, health and maternity benefits, old age protection and any other benefit as may be
determined by the Government for unorganized workers.
The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) providing for smart card jbased cashless health
insurance cover of Rs.30000 to BPL families (a unit of five) in the unorganized sector was
launched on 01.10.2007 and became operational from 01.04.2008. More than 2.18 crore BPL
families (a unit of five) have been covered under RSBY as on 30.11.2010.
To provide death and disability cover to rural landless households between the age group
of the 18 to 59 years, the Government launched the “Aam Admi Bima Yojana’. More than 1.45
crore persons have been covered under the scheme as on 31.07.2010.
Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension has been expanded by revising the criteria of
eligibility. All citizens above the age of 65 years and living below poverty line are
eligible for benefits under the scheme. The government also launched the National Pension
Scheme called Swavalamban Scheme for unorganized sector.