Social
Security in Socialist Economy: An Appraisal of Social Security Pension Schemes
in India
Dr. Biju S K
Assistant Professor
Government Arts College,
Thiruvananthapuram
Abstract
Social
security refer to the action programs of
government proposed to promote the welfare of the population through assistance
measures guaranteeing access to enough resources for food and shelter and to
promote health and well-being for the population at large and potentially weak
sections such as children, the elderly, the sick and the unemployed. Services
providing social security are often called social services. In almost every developed country
the population is ageing quickly and persons are living longer. These
demographic tendencies have sited huge burden on the financial feasibility of
the social security systems in these countries. The economic pressure is
compounded by additional trend. The main function of social security is to
provide income security, access to health care and basic social services and
thus reducing poverty among the elderly. This paper deals the saga of social
security initiatives in India and Kerala.
1. Introduction
Pension
and social security schemes have been receiving increasing attention in recent
years in most countries of the developing world in view of the rapidly growing
elderly population. Equipping with sustainable financial capacity as a senior
citizen is a basic problem for most of the people. Lack of financial capacity
creates a stressful life and invites the entry of problems other than those
caused by physical and mental health issues. The rise in the size of the old
age population in capacitated to generate any income immediately leads to a
severe economic problem.
The pension
crisis is a universal phenomenon and many countries face rising pension
expenditure, often combined with significant pensioner poverty. The problem is
attributed to various trends, notably a pincer movement between rising life
expectancy and lower birth rates. Kerala is also facing the problem of lower
birth rate and rising life expectancy. Life expectancy is
a statistical measure of the average time an organism is expected to live,
based on the year of its birth, its current age and other demographic factors including gender.
2.
Backdrop
Social security is basically a
term of Atlantic origin introduced by Abraham Epstein with a view to
differentiating it from economic security. It is both a concept and a system.
The concept of social security is very old, though the term, the laws and
institutions built around it in order to institutionalize the concept may be of
recent origin. Social security conveys a meaning that requires a security in
the society in case of contingencies. But it also covers to security by state
in case of contingencies. The term social security, its meaning, its denotation
and connotation are vague. It is the principle or practice of public provision
for the economic security and social welfare of individual and his family as
such, through social assistance or insurance.
Social security is a concept preserved in Article 22 of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, which states: Everyone, as a member of society, has
the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national
effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization
and resources of each State, of the economic, social and
cultural rights essential
for his dignity and the free development of his
personality.
In simple terms, the
participants resolve that society in which a person lives should help them to
develop and to make the most of all the benefits (culture, work, social
welfare) which are offered to them in the nation. Social security may also refer to the action programs
of government proposed to promote the welfare of the population through
assistance measures guaranteeing access to enough resources for food and
shelter and to promote health and well-being for the population at large and
potentially weak sections such as children, the elderly, the sick and the
unemployed. Services providing social security are often called social services. In almost every developed country the
population is ageing quickly and persons are living longer. These demographic
tendencies have sited huge burden on the financial feasibility of the social
security systems in these countries. The economic pressure is compounded by
additional trend. In almost every country workers are leaving the labour force
at younger and younger ages.
3. Social security in India
India is home to one –fifth of the world’s population,
which includes a third of the world’s poor and one eight of the world’s
elderly. Thus its strategy for providing social security to the elderly is of global
interest. The objective of social security is to provide sustenance to those
who cannot work and earn their due to temporary or chronic reasons. Provision
of social security by the state is an intrinsic part of the living standard in
More Developed Countries (MDCs). In the Less Developed Countries( LDCs),however
due to chronic unemployment and extreme
deprivation that is inherent in the social structures, the extent of
vulnerability is well beyond the risks that are normally covered by the social
security systems that exist in the More Developed Countries.
The
economic feasibility of social security at a comparable level is a vital
constraint in Less Developed Countries.
Recently, however, changing demographics in the Local Developed Countries
have brought to focus the elderly population, who are now increasingly seen as
being particularly vulnerable and in dire need of social security. Thought
their proportion in the total population may not be as high as seen in the More
Developed Countries the possibility of rapid increase in their numbers in the
near future and their sheer numbers (in millions) in countries like India pose
a huge challenge to such countries in terms of social security needs. Until
recently,family and adult children took on the responsibility of looking after
their elderly and were considered to be a reliable source for providing old age
security has come under great strain due to the elderly, and other widespread
demographic and socio-economic-cultural change taking place in these
transitional societies. The problem is more acute among the poor elderly who, with
their deteriorating health condition, are unable to work for earning and have
hardly, if ever any savings to fall back upon marginalization of the poor an
unforeseen consequence of globalization and increasing feminization of poverty
how further underscored the need to adopt suitably targeted measures that
provide social security to the elderly. Like a few other developing countries,
the Government of India as well as the state government has undertaken some
initiatives in this direction. Presently the debate on provision of social
security to the elderly revolves around the eligibility, coverage, pension, among,
appropriate form of assistance to the elderly (food or physical assistance or
monetary help etc.) delivery mechanisms, their suitability, and the economic
implications of such measures.
The
gradual collapse of traditional old age support mechanism and rise in elderly. Population
highlighted the need for appropriate formal channels in the context of reducing
family support, the responsibility of the state to ensure the welfare of older person’s
increases. Hence in this chapter an attempt is made to analyses the old age
income security provided by government to elderly in the form of pension for
those in the organized sector and social security benefits for those in the
unorganized sector. The term social security refers to programs established by
state that insure individuals against interrupting or loss of earning power
(International Social Security Association, 2003)
The
main function of social security is to provide income security, access to
health care and basic social services and thus reducing poverty among the
elderly (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, 2005).International
Labour Organization (2006) defines social security as the “set of institutions,
measures,right and obligations, whose primary goal is to provide income
security and medical care to individual members of the society”. Unlike
developing countries India do o not have a universal pension system. There is
no comprehensive social security system in India as a whole. Pension policy
adopted by the country is restricted sectors leaving 90 percent of the workers
in the unorganized sector. Kerala is known for its widespread and popular
social security schemes especially for the aged. At present the state is having
four lakh pensioners and 12 lakh social security beneficiaries (Government of India,
2008) they constitute about half of the elderly (49 percent)in the state. Early
retirement age along with increasing longevity in the state has triggered
problems for elderly employed in formal sector. Thought the policy holder
raised the problem of states affordability in providing social security benefits
to the growing elderly population,how far these schemes are efficient in
providing support to the elderly is also a matter of concern.The first section analyses
the utilization pattern of pension and social security benefits and its adequacy
in meeting the needs of elderly.
The
nature of social security beneficiaries and the pensioners cannot be pooled
always due to the heterogeneous behavior. Thus the preceding paragraphs flow at
three levels firstly the discussion is only on social security beneficiaries.
In continuation of that the pensioners are discussed. Final part of this
section gives presentation covering both social security beneficiaries and
pensioners. The second section examines the impact of these schemes on elderly
participation in decision making and life satisfaction. Social security
benefits and its impact from its formation, Kerala gave more prominence to
social security measures. In 1980 s there was a proliferation of social
security schemes for older persons in various categories. At present the state
Kerala is having 40 social security schemes are implemented either directly
through government department or welfare boards. The major schemes financed
fully by the state are Kerala Agricultural workers pension schemes,Kerala
destitute and widow pension scheme, old age pension to craftsman and journalist
welfare fund scheme. The schemes that are financed partly with state support
include Kerala construction workers welfare fund, schemes and Kerala Khadi
workers welfare fund. The schemes that are financed by respective boards
include Kerala headload workers welfare fund, Kerala toddy workers welfare fund
and Kerala abkari workers welfare fund.
4.
Social
Security Pension
The term social
security refers to program established by state that ensure individuals against
interruption on loss of earning power (International Social Security Assosiation2003)
the main function of social security is
to provide income security access to health care and basic social services and
thus reducing poverty among the elderly
(American institutes of certified public accountant (2005) .
International Labor organization (2006) defines social security as “Set of
institutions, measures, rights and obligations whose primary goal is to provide
income security and medical care to individual members of the society “.Unlike
developing countries India do not have universal pension system. There is no
comprehensive social security system in India as a whole. Pension policy
adopted by the country is restricted to the workers in organized sectors
leaving 90% of the workers in the unorganized sectors
India today is caught between a rapidly
changing demographic profile, emerging economic opportunities, an amalgamation
of global and local socio-economic systems, and changing value systems and
ideologies, both at the personal level as well as at the societal level. Thus,
in India’s development context, the management of safety nets for the ageing
population of the country is crucial because senior citizens require social,
economic, moral and physical support, which may be rapidly eroded due to
various social changes brought in by rapid economic development. There are
multiple problems of old age including inequality of opportunity for
employment; inadequate income; unsuitable housing; lack of social services and
of provisions for sustaining physical and mental health; stresses and strains
produced by changing family patterns and family relations; and lack of
meaningful activities in retirement.
Social security is a fundamental right enshrined in the
Constitution of India. Well-being of older persons has been mandated in the Constitution of
India. Article 41, Directive Principle of State Policy has directed that the
State shall, within the limits of its economic capacity and development, make
effective provision for securities, right to public assistance in case of old
age. There are other provisions too, which direct the state to improve the
quality of life of its citizens. Right to equality has been guaranteed by the
Constitution as Fundamental rights. This provision applies equally to older
persons. Social security has been made the concurrent responsibility of the
central and state Governments.
A social pension (also known as a non-contributory pension)
is a regular cash transfer to older people. Eligibility is based on age and
citizenship or residency, income, assets or other pension income. For securing the lives of the poorest of the deprived families, the
Government of Kerala has introduced the Social Security Pension Schemes. Sevana
(Social Security Pension) is the application software developed by Information
Kerala Mission and deployed in the local governments within the Kerala state
with the purpose of providing efficient and clear mechanism in the social
security services executed through them. This application is being used by the
local bodies to distribute Social welfare pensions in a time bound manner.
5.
SOCIAL SECURITY PENSION IN KERALA
Information Kerala Mission (IKM), an autonomous institution
under Local Self Government Department, Government of Kerala has been setup
with a mandate to strengthen the local self-governance through ICT
applications. It is the largest and most comprehensive local body
computerization initiative in the country, which envisages computerizing and
networking the 1209 local self-government institutions in Kerala. It is not
only about computerizing the local bodies, it is the technology application for
improving productivity, ensuring better social and welfare service delivery,
that guarantee faster and objective decision-making, thereby enhancing
accountability. The Government has recently decided to
computerize the pension processes to make it faster and efficient. It addresses the entire scale of
issues concerning local body governance, decentralized planning, and economic
development at local economic development. The programme has been
initiated using the Sevana –Pension application software developed by the
Information Kerala Mission (IKM).
Kerala has the most
comprehensive safety net in the country for vulnerable sections in the society.
Kerala was the first state to have introduced agriculture worker’s pension.
About 3.6 million people are benefited through different pension schemes. A
sizeable amount of these programmes have been transferred to local governments.
Poor administration of the social welfare pension programmes have resulted in
substantial delays in payment of pensions, and complaints of duplications,
defalcations also come up regularly. The Sevana Pension application is aimed at
reorganization and uninterrupted disbursement of social welfare benefits to the
poorest of the poor in the society. At present this application covers
seven schemes with more than 16 lakhs beneficiaries, who are belonging to the
weaker sections in the society. Implementation of this application has resulted
in the total improvement in the efficiency and service delivery of welfare
pensions and other facilities of local governments in this sphere. Currently
six types of social security pensions are being distributed through local
bodies (Grama Panchayats, Municipalities and Corporations) by means of Sevana
pension application.
6.
Conclusion
The
main aim of social security pensions is to provide financial assistance to
people who have no other source of income for their livelihood. The social security pensions provide
protection to old age persons, mentally and physically challenged persons from
different problems they faced. The Government can provide different type of
social security pensions to the poor people. Finally, the aged should be considered as a valuable
cultural resource and role models for the younger generation. Therefore,
Governmental and non-governmental organizations should come forward to motivate
and create awareness among the youth to take care of the aged in the family.
Older persons also have the right to a standard of living ensuring their
well-being. Thus old age is definitely a challenge which deserves the attention
of policy thinkers from multidiscipline and also research scholars.
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