Urban Safety Net

Business Standard     14th September 2021     Save    

Context: Pandemic witnessed the plight of urban poor, resulting in demands for formulation social security net comparable to rural counterparts.

Need for urban social security net

  • Distress within India’s labour force: Increase in agricultural workforce: As per Periodic Labour Force Survey over the previous round in 2017-18 for the first time in the National Sample Survey’s history.
  • Concerns compounded by pandemic: Causing loss of employment due to closure of factories, industries compared to rural as agriculture remains mostly unaffected due to pandemic. This led to reverse migration.
  • Governance-related issues:
    • Parliamentary standing committee on labour argued that “the plight of urban poor has not received much attention from the government”.
    • Most welfare connected to specific locations, and in particular “home” villages.
    • Inability to expand welfare net amidst pandemic: As fiscal burden would become unmanageable. 

Way forward

  • Devise urban MNREGA: As recommended by Parliamentary standing committee.
    • Account for differences in pattern of work and distress across rural and urban areas: Look beyond 100-day job guarantee as work in urban areas are not seasonal and there are many manual labourers in urban areas. (In place of casual labourers in rural areas.)
  • Expand welfare net: “One nation, one ration card” during the pandemic revealed the need to design welfare systems that are transferable and mobile. This need to be expanded.
  • Initiate urban wage support programmes: Some states have already started experimenting with urban wage support programmes. New studies and pilot implementations are to be devised.
  • Long term vision: Should be structural solutions like upskilling and lifelong learning.