Social Security in Socialist Economy

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.