INFORMAL SECTOR is a sub-topic in UPSC Sociology Paper 2. Budget 2019 proposes a mega pension yojana namely ‘Pradhan Mantri Shram–Yogi Maandhan’ for the unorganised (informal) sector workers.
Syllabus topics are underlined and marked in bold red
Latent and Manifest function (Robert K. Merton):
- The Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018 will help confiscate and dispose off the assets of economic offenders who escape the jurisdiction of the laws in India.
Child and infant mortality (Population Dynamics):
- Government initiated the world’s largest behavioural change movement with the Swachh Bharat Mission. India has achieved 98% rural sanitation coverage and as many as 5.45 lakh villages have been declared “Open Defecation Free.
Population Dynamics:
- Govt. launched the world’s largest healthcare programme, Ayushman Bharat, to provide medical treatment to nearly 50 crore people.
- Lakhs of poor and middle class people are also benefiting from reduction in the prices of essential medicines, cardiac stents and knee implants, and availability of medicines at affordable prices through Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Kendras.
- Setting up of new the 22nd AIIMS in Haryana
Youth (Population size, composition):
- Through Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, over 1 crore youth are being trained to help them earn a livelihood.
- Self-employment schemes including MUDRA, Start-up India and Stand-up India.
- The concept of employment is changing all over the world, now the employment generation is not confined merely to Government services or factories. With job seekers becoming job creators, India has become the world’s second largest start-up hub.
Poverty, deprivation and inequality (Challenges of Social Transformation):
- Government while maintaining the existing reservation for SC/ST/Other Backward Classes, have now ensured 10% reservation in educational institutions and Government services for the poor. In these institutions, around 25% extra seats (approximately 2 lakh) will be provided.
- To provide food grains at affordable prices to the poor and middle classes, about Rs. 1,70,000 crores were spent in the year 2018-19.
- Rs. 60,000 crores are being allocated for MGNREGA in BE 2019-20.
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Middle class:
- Inflation is a hidden and unfair tax on the poor and the middle class.
- To provide food grains at affordable prices to the poor and middle classes, about Rs. 1,70,000 crores were spent in the year 2018-19.
- Under ‘Saubhagya Yojna’, we provided free electricity connection to almost every household. This has resulted into a savings of approximately Rs. 50,000 crore per year in electricity bills of poor and middle class families.
- Lakhs of poor and middle class people are also benefiting from reduction in the prices of essential medicines, cardiac stents and knee implants, and availability of medicines at affordable prices through Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Kendras.
- Aadhaar is now near universally implemented. This has helped ensure the poor and middle class receive the benefits of Government schemes directly in their bank accounts by eliminating middlemen.
- The high taxation levied on multiple commodities in the pre-GST regime has been rationalised and the burden on the consumer, especially the poor and the middle class, has been significantly reduced. The GST Council, comprising the Centre and States/UTs, finalised the GST rates collectively mostly lower than pre-GST rates.
- Most items of daily use of the poor and middle class are now in the 0% or 5% tax slab.
- Considering the difficulty of the middle class having to maintain families at two locations on account of their job, children’s education, care of parents etc.
Urbanisation:
- Provide urban facilities in villages while keeping the soul of rural life intact.
Rural and Agrarian transformation in India:
- Under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, construction of rural roads has been tripled. Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) is being allocated ` 19,000 crore in BE 2019-20.
- During the period 2014-18, a total number of 1.53 crore houses have been built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.
- Under ‘Saubhagya Yojna‘, we provided free electricity connection to almost every household.
- The Aspirational Districts Programme is providing targeted development to the 115 most backward districts of the country. The programme has achieved notable results with improved performance on all indicators – health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion and skill development.
- With an aim to double the income of farmers, our Government, for the first time in history has fixed the minimum support price (MSP) of all 22 crops at minimum 50% more than the cost.
- To provide an assured income support to the small and marginal farmers, our Government is launching a historic programme namely “Pradhan Mantri KIsan SAmman Nidhi (PM-KISAN)”. Under this programme, vulnerable landholding farmer families, having cultivable land upto 2 hectares, will be provided direct income support at the rate of Rs. 6,000 per year.
- Soil Health Cards, quality seeds, irrigation scheme and Neem Coated Urea.
- To ensure provision of easy and concessional credit and to bring all farmers under KCC fold, Government has decided to initiate a comprehensive drive with a simplified application form.
- The Government will make 1 lakh villages into Digital Villages over next five years.
- Expanding rural industrialisation using modern digital technologies to generate massive employment is the Fourth Dimension of our Vision. This will be built upon the Make in India approach to develop grass-roots level clusters, structures and mechanisms encompassing the MSMEs, village industries and start-ups spread in every nook and corner of the country.
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Working class (Industrialisation and Urbanisation in India):
- High growth and formalistation of the economy has led to the expansion of employment opportunities as shown in EPFO membership, which has increased by nearly 2 crore in two years reflecting formalisation of the economy and job creations.
- The New Pension Scheme (NPS) has been liberalized. Keeping the contribution of the employee at 10%, we have increased the Government contribution by 4% making it 14%.
- Minimum pension for every labourer has been fixed at Rs. 1,000 per month.
- In the event of death of a labourer during service, the amount to be paid by EPFO has been enhanced from Rs. 2.5 lakh to Rs. 6 lakh.
- Under Anganwadi and Asha Yojana honorarium has been enhanced by about 50% for all categories of workers.[Women]
Informal sector (Industrialisation and Urbanisation in India):
- Half of India’s GDP comes from the sweat and toil of 42 crore workers in the unorganised sector working as street vendors, rickshaw pullers, construction workers, rag pickers, agricultural workers, beedi workers, handloom, leather and in numerous other similar occupations. Domestic workers are also engaged in big numbers. We must provide them comprehensive social security coverage for their old age.
- Health coverage provided under ‘Ayushman Bharat’ and life & disability coverage provided under ‘Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana’ and ‘Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana’
- A mega pension yojana namely ‘Pradhan Mantri Shram–Yogi Maandhan’ for the unorganised sector workers with monthly income upto Rs. 15,000. This pension yojana shall provide them an assured monthly pension of Rs. 3,000 from the age of 60 years on a monthly contribution of a small affordable amount during their working age.
Dalits:
- The allocation of Rs. 56,619 crore made in BE of 2018-19 for Scheduled Caste, further increased to Rs. 62,474 crore in RE is proposed to be enhanced to Rs. 76,801 crore in BE for 2019- 20, an increase of 35.6% over BE of 2018-19.
Tribes:
- Condition of the De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic communities merits special attention.
- These communities are hard to reach, less visible, and therefore, frequently left out. The Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic communities move from place to place in search of a livelihood.
- The Renke Commission and the Idate Commission have done commendable work to identify and list these communities. A Committee under NITI Aayog will be set up to complete the task of identifying De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic communities not yet formally classified.
- Government will also set up a Welfare Development Board under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment specifically for the purpose of implementing welfare and development programmes for De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic communities.
- For the Scheduled Tribes also, proposed allocation in 2019-20 BE is Rs. 50,086 crore as against Rs. 39,135 crore in BE 2018-19, an increase of 28%.
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Women:
Women’s development to women led development
- For securing the health of every home-maker in rural areas Government embarked upon a programme to deliver 8 crore free LPG connections under the Ujjwala Yojana. More than 6 crore connections have already been given and the remaining will get free gas connections by next year.
- More than 70% of the beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana are women who are getting affordable and collateral-free loans to start their own businesses.
- Benefits of Maternity leave of 26 weeks and Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana for pregnant women have provided financial support to women while empowering them to participate in work.
Regionalism (Politics and Society):
- The people of North East have also received significant benefits of infrastructure development.
- Arunachal Pradesh came on the air map recently and Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram have come on India’s rail map for the first time.
- Allocation for the North Eastern Areas is being proposed to be increased by 21% to Rs. 58,166 crore in 2019-20 BE over 2018-19 BE.
- Govt. contained the fiscal deficit notwithstanding the Finance Commission’s recommendations increasing the share of the States from 32% to 42% in central taxes, which we accepted in the true spirit of cooperative federalism, thereby transferring significantly higher amounts to the States.
Bureaucracy (Max Weber):
- Our Vision can be delivered by Team India – our employees working together with the elected Government, transforming India into a Minimum Government Maximum Governance nation. This is the Tenth Dimension. Our India of 2030 will have a proactive and responsible bureaucracy which will be viewed as friendly to people.
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