When law fails: Miles to go before all unorganised workers are registered

The issue of registration of all unorganised workers, especially the migrants among them, is again in focus with the Supreme Court coming down strongly against the Ministry of Labour & Employment (MoLE) for failing to create a database of unorganised workers. The SC has directed the MoLE to ensure that a National Database of Unorganised Workers (NDUW) portal is implemented on or before July 31, 2021 and that the process of registration of all workers is completed by December 31, 2021.

The SC, noting that it had as early as on August 21, 2018 directed the MoLE to make available a module to states/Union Territories for the purpose of registration, has said, “The attitude of MoLE in not completing the module... shows that the ministry is not alive to the concern of migrant workers and the non-action of the ministry is strongly disapproved.” The SC has also directed all states/UTs to register all establishments and all contractors under the Inter-State Migrant Workmen’s Act of 1979.

The poor registration of unorganised workers over the years is attributable to the weak implementation of the Unorganised Workers’ Social Security (UWSS) Act of 2008 and to the impediments posed to the workers’ registration.

Apart from one scheme for private commercial vehicle drivers, unorganised workers of 11 sectors, including domestic workers, ragpickers, etc., are now being registered by the Karnataka UWSS Board under the Ambedkar Karmika Sahaya Hasta Yojane (Ambedkar Workers’ Helping Hand Scheme). The question arises: Why only 11 sectors more than 13 years after the passage of the Act? But here too, the number of registrations is poor.

Hence, a case is being heard in the Karnataka High Court on a petition filed in February 2021 by the Domestic Workers’ Rights Union. The union has stated that despite applications having been filed with the UWSS Board for registration of more than 3,500 domestic workers, only approximately 500 were registered. The Ambedkar scheme provides only a smart card on registration and no further benefits as there is no scheme even for these 11 sectors. So, what is the use of registration and the smart card if there are no schemes providing benefits?

The UWSS Act says that every unorganised worker shall be eligible for registration through a ‘self-declaration’. But while applying for any benefit, such as the Rs 2,000 announced as compensation for the loss of livelihood during the lockdown, an employment certificate by an official or employer is being demanded. Also, making online registration on the Seva Sindhu portal mandatory for availing this benefit has proved to be a hurdle for claiming the benefit. Shockingly, it has been revealed that around Rs 250 as commission was being extracted from each domestic worker at the Common Service Centres (CSCs) for uploading their applications for availing a relief of Rs 2,000.

Another hurdle for registration in the case of construction workers is the requirement to prove through certificates that the worker has worked for a minimum of 90 days in a year in the construction sector. This overlooks the fact that most of the unorganised sector workers are not attached to any specific occupation. For instance, a seasonal construction worker goes back to his village to become an agricultural worker. If eligibility for registration is made sector-specific and linked to the number of days worked in that sector, an unorganised worker who keeps shifting employment may become ineligible under all sector-specific legislation even though he may have worked throughout the year in different sectors.

For example, a construction worker in Bengaluru switched to running an auto-rickshaw as he could not get work for 90 days in construction due to the economic slowdown. His registration with the BOCWW Board was hence cancelled.

The Domestic Workers’ Rights Union has also pointed out that in response to a question in the Lok Sabha on social security to unorganised workers, the MoLE had stated that there were several social security schemes like National Old Age Pension Scheme, National Family Benefit Scheme, Janani Suraksha Yojana, Ayushman Bharat, etc. Further, the Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana (AABY) has been merged with the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) to provide benefits to the unorganised workers.

Now, if unorganised workers are being brought under these schemes meant for the general population, it begs the question why they should go through the harassment of obtaining employment and eligibility certificates, when they could have simply applied for these schemes directly like the general population. There are also the conditionalities that an unorganised worker should belong to the BPL category and be working in an enterprise that employs less than 10 workers. Such thresholds and income limits will also lead to exclusions, defeating the goal of universalising social security.

But the irony is that the UWSS Act of 2008 is going to be repealed as soon as the Social Security Code 2020, under which rules are being framed by states, comes into effect. But all that the SS Code is saying is that how the records are maintained, by whom, and what information shall be sought “may be prescribed by the central government” at the time of framing a scheme. So, nothing is stated clearly in the SS Code.

Most importantly, thresholds for eligibility, wage ceilings and sector-specificity need to be removed for registering unorganised workers. Clear-cut and unambiguous exclusion criteria such as the one given by the National Advisory Council (NAC) during the UPA’s time need to be adopted for registering unorganised workers. The NAC said that those workers already covered by ESIC and EPFO, the self-employed and others paying income tax, farmers owning more than a certain acreage of land should be excluded. All others should be automatically considered as unorganised workers for ensuring universal social security.

(The writer is Executive Trustee of CIVIC Bangalore)