Comprehensive Social Security Insurance Schemes for Workers in Unorganised Sector
Recognising the need for providing social security to unorganized workers, the Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008 was enacted on 31.12.2008. The Government has also launched the following schemes to provide social security to certain categories of unorganized workers.
The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) was launched on 1st October, 2007 to provide smart card based cashless health insurance cover of Rs. 30,000/- per annum on a family floater basis to BPL families (a unit of five) in the unorganized sector. RSBY has been extended to building and other construction workers registered under the Building and other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Condition of Service) Act, 1996 and street vendors, beedi workers, MGNREGA beneficiaries who have worked for more than 15 days during the preceding financial year and domestic Workers.
With a view to providing death and disability cover to rural landless household, the Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana (AABY) was launched on 2nd October, 2007. Under the scheme, the head of the family or one earning member in the family is insured. The benefits include natural death; death due to accident or total permanent disability due to accident and partial disability due to accident. The children of beneficiaries of AABY studying in classes 9th to 12th standard are eligible to a scholarship @ Rs.300/- per quarter per child.
It is the endeavour of the Government to converge social security schemes for the workers for better coordination and implementation. However, there is no such proposal at present to formulate a new comprehensive social security insurance scheme for unorganized workers.
The Union Labour & Employment Minister Shri Mallikarjun Kharge gave this information in reply to a written question in Rajya Sabha today.
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