Social Security of Indian Citizen

Social Security is any type of monetary assistance provided by the government to the people with low income or no income. “India’s social security system is composed of several schemes and programs spread throughout a variety of laws and regulations. However, the government-controlled social security system in India applies to only a small portion of the population.”[1]India’s social security system includes pension, health insurance and medical benefit, disability benefit, maternity benefits, gratuity. Apart from this it also includes lump sum employer obligations. As a large part of the Indian population is working under an unorganized sector they are not able to participate in the schemes but those working in organized sectors their employers and employees enjoy the benefits of these schemes.

There should be a relationship of trust between the government and those who pay taxes. As the government collects taxes from the individuals they must be given some credit which can be used in its old age as a pension or during a medical emergency. But this trust can be created only if tax rates are uniform and taxes are paid properly by the people. 

To create this trust the taxes should be collected at a uniform rate and the laws and policies  should be such that, “ by which genuine taxpayers should be incentivized and defaulters should be penalized.”[2] While doing so the government needs to keep in mind various other things which may affect the people at large and should make only such decisions which are best for each of its people. These schemes like old age pension, provident fund, health, and medical insurance are important because after people after contributing all their lives to GDP of the country and also paying taxes so it becomes our responsibility to look after them in their old age.

To make these schemes working and to reach out to maximum people the government has framed various policies and act. One of the major schemes include the Employees Provident Fund Scheme under which different types of incentives are provided to employees. Furthermore, there are also four types of pension offered monthly to employees like, “pension upon superannuation  or death, widow’s pension while in service, children’s pension and orphan’s pension.”[3]

Apart from this, the amount from the provident fund is also given to the employee upon his retirement. The health and medical insurance to employees are provided through the Employees State Insurance Act, which was one of the first schemes started by the government for employees after independence. This provides health benefits to employees and their families. Employers have to provide compensation to employees and their families in case of death or injuries related to work under Workmen’s or Employer Compensation Act, 1923. The women working in the organized sector should also be provided with paid maternity leave under the Maternity Benefit Act. The employers should also pay gratuity i.e. 15 days of additional wages every year to the employees who have worked for five years or more.

Talking about how effective is social security in India and how efficiently it is working towards the welfare of the people of India.  “In India, a fraction of citizens enjoy any protection which is further eroded with the current pattern of economic growth. “ In provisions aimed at promotion of social security through nutrition, work entitlements for all, recent evidence gives reasons for cheer, but even these being threatened with fund cuts and further shrinking.”[4]  Thus, we can say that even if there are policies for providing social security to the people of India. The policies are less effective because of the lack of implantation and various other reasons the schemes are not able to reach the most people.

Conclusion

As we can see that people contribute in increasing the GDP of the country and also they pay taxes throughout their life. So, it is necessary to take care of them in their old age and provide them with various incentives like medical and health insurance. But to do this and to make them pay taxes there must be trust between them which can be built only through framing proper policies and tax rates also should be uniform. The government should also frame various schemes and policies to provide them with benefits in their old age. But we can see that even after framing all such policies the effectiveness is very low and the policy does not reach to large no. of people working in the organized sector.

References:

[1]DezanShira& Associates,  Introduction to Social Security System in India , https://www.india-briefing.com/news/introduction-social-security-system-india-6014.html/#:~:text=Pension%20or%20Employees’%20Provident%20Fund&text=Presently%2C%20only%20about%2035%20million,age%20income%20protection%20in%20India.&text=The%20Employees’%20Pension%20Scheme%2C%201995,Deposit%20Linked%20Insurance%20Scheme%2C%201976.   , 4^th May,2017  ( 15/6/2020 11.32am)

[2]Ajit Sehgal, How all Indiana Can get Social Security, Times of India , https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/voices/how-all-indians-shall-get-social-security/,4^th April,2019, ( 17^th June,2020 22.59pm)

[3] Supra Note 1

[4] Anumeha Yadav,  How  are Social Security and welfare  in India , The Hindu , https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/how-effective-are-social-security-and-welfare-in-india/article6823320.ece, 26^th January,2015 ( 18/6/2020 1.17pm)