Social Programs in India

The Central Government of India's social programmes and welfare expenditures are a substantial portion of the official budget, and state and local governments play roles in developing and implementing social security policies. Additional welfare measure systems are also uniquely operated by various state governments.[1][2] The government uses the unique identity number (Aadhar) that every Indian possesses to distribute welfare measures in India.

Overview

The Directive Principles of State Policy, enshrined in Part IV of the Indian Constitution reflects that India is a welfare state. Seats are reserved for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in government jobs, educational institutions, Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha. The government has passed laws for the abolition of untouchability, Begar and Zamindari. Food security to all Indians are guaranteed under the National Food Security Act, 2013 where the government provides food grains to people at a very subsidised rate.

Aadhar

It is a 12-digit unique identity number that can be obtained voluntarily by residents or passport holders of India, based on their biometric and demographic data. The data is collected by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), a statutory authority established in January 2009 by the government of India, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, following the provisions of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and other Subsidies, benefits and services) Act, 2016.[3] Aadhaar is the world's largest biometric ID system. World Bank Chief Economist Paul Romer described Aadhaar as "the most sophisticated ID programme in the world".[4] The government of India uses this unique identification number to distribute social security and welfare measures to its citizens.

Budget

As of 2020, the government's expenditure on social security (direct cash transfers, financial inclusion, benefits, health and other insurances, subsidies, free school meals, rural employment guarantee), was approximately ₹1,600,000 crore (US$220 billion), which was 7.3% of gross domestic product (GDP).[5]

Social security budget 2020–21
RegionSocial security programCrore RupeeBillion US$
Pan IndiaFood Security (subsidy)1100020.83
Pan IndiaPetroleum (subsidy)250016.17
Pan IndiaHealth20000030
Pan IndiaPensions60000060
Pan IndiaAccidents13000020
RuralFertilizer (subsidy)7000011.00
RuralNREGA (non-subsidy)15150025
RuralChild development (ICDS) (non-subsidy)260004.5
RuralIndira Awaas Yojana (Affordable Housing) (non-subsidy)2000010
RuralMaternal and childcare benefits(non-subsidy)3000010
StatesVarious programmes of state govts (subsidy/non-subsidy)500007
Pan IndiaTotal subsidy for FY-2020-21 (approx)1600000220

Federal Government Programmes

This section covers some of the social programmes and welfare measures in place in India at the federal level.

Employees' Provident Fund Organisation

A provident funding is a kind of pension scheme. It is mandatory for every public, private and self-employee under The Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952. Under this statutory act, every working person has a Universal Account Number (UAN), which is a 12-digit number allotted to employees who are contributing to EPF. It will be generated for each of the PF member by EPFO. The UAN will act as an umbrella for the multiple Member Ids allotted to an individual by different establishments and also remains same through the lifetime of an employee. It does not change with the change in jobs. The idea is to link multiple Member Identification Numbers (Member Id) allotted to a single member under single Universal Account Number. This will help the member to view details of all the Member Identification Numbers (Member Id) linked to it. In this account, an employee contributes 10% of his monthly salary here and his employer contributes a matching amount.

The major benefit of UAN or Universal Account Number will include easy tagging of multiple Employee's Provident Fund Member Id under a single number, thus reducing the confusion. The UAN will help in easy transfer and withdrawals of claims. Along with this services like Online Pass-Book, SMS Services on each deposit of contribution and Online KYC Update can be provided on the basis of UAN number. One can transfer balance from one EPF to his/her another EPF account with the help of UAN.[6]

There are new UAN portal start to check your EPF balance and nowadays all the details like how to check UAN status,[7] download UAN EPF passbook,[8] check EPF balance,[9] provident fund claim and many more facility provided by new UAN portal.

EPFO has now started to provide the refund of Administrative charges if all the KYC details are updated for all employees.[10] This incentive programme is announced for the Year 2016–2017.

The member who is unable to withdraw PF for any reason can withdraw without consent of employer. They can submit FORM 19 for EPF (Employees Provident Fund) and FORM 10C for EPS (Employees’ Pension Scheme) with any of the following officials attestation to EPFO office in which their EPF account is maintained and[11]

Universal Account Number or UAN provided by EPFO is mainly used to track PF balance and PF claim status. Then, you have to activate this by visiting nearest EPFO office. You will not be able to track your PF status and balance without activation.[12]

National Health Insurances

There are a number of public and private health insurance companies operating in India which caters to the Indian middle class. For vulnerable Indians, the government has Ayushman Bharat Yogna[13], which is a health insurance programme that has coverage that includes 3 days of pre-hospitalisation and 15 days of post-hospitalisation expenses. Moreover, around 1,400 procedures with all related costs like OT expenses are taken care of. All in all, PMJAY and the e-card provide a coverage of Rs. 5 lakh ($6860) per family, per year, thus helping the economically disadvantaged obtain easy access to healthcare services.

Atal Pension Yogna

It is open to all saving bank/post office saving bank account holders in the age group of 18 to 40 years and the contributions differ, based on pension amount chosen. Subscribers would receive the guaranteed minimum monthly pension of Rs. 1,000 or Rs. 2,000 or Rs. 3,000 or Rs. 4,000 or Rs. 5,000 at the age of 60 years. Under APY, the monthly pension would be available to the subscriber, and after him to his spouse and after their death, the pension corpus, as accumulated at age 60 of the subscriber, would be returned to the nominee of the subscriber. The minimum pension would be guaranteed by the Government, i.e., if the accumulated corpus based on contributions earns a lower than estimated return on investment and is inadequate to provide the minimum guaranteed pension, the Central Government would fund such inadequacy. Alternatively, if the returns on investment are higher, the subscribers would get enhanced pensionary benefits.[14]

Free School Meals

The Midday-Meal is a school meal programme of the Government of India designed to better the nutritional standing of school-age children nationwide.[15] The programme supplies free lunches on working days for children in primary and upper primary classes in government, government aided, local body, Education Guarantee Scheme, and alternate innovative education centres, Madarsa and Maqtabs supported under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, and National Child Labour Project schools run by the ministry of labour.[16] Serving 120,000,000 children in over 1,265,000 schools and Education Guarantee Scheme centres, it is the largest of its kind in the world.[17]

Under article 24, paragraph 2c[18] of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which India is a party,[19] India has committed to yielding "adequate nutritious food" for children. The programme has undergone many changes since its launch in 1995. The Midday Meal Scheme is covered by the National Food Security Act, 2013. The legal backing to the Indian school meal programme is akin to the legal backing provided in the US through the National School Lunch Act.

Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awaas Yojana

Under the PMGAY scheme, financial assistance worth ₹120,000 (US$1,700) in plain areas and ₹130,000 (US$1,800) in difficult areas (high land area) is provided for construction of houses.[20] These houses are equipped with facilities such as toilet, LPG connection, electricity connection, and drinking water [convergence with other schemes e.g. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan toilets, Ujjwala Yojana LPG gas connection, Saubhagya Yojana electricity connection, etc.].[21] The houses are allotted in the name of the woman or jointly between husband and wife.[22]

Conditional Cash Transfers to Women

Pradhan Mantri Matri Vandana Yojana is a maternity benefit programme run by the government of India. It was introduced in 2017 and is implemented by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. It is a conditional cash transfer scheme for pregnant and lactating women of 19 years of age or above for the first live birth.[23] It provides a partial wage compensation to women for wage-loss during childbirth and childcare and to provide conditions for safe delivery and good nutrition and feeding practices. In 2013, the scheme was brought under the National Food Security Act, 2013 to implement the provision of cash maternity benefit of ₹6,000 (US$84) stated in the Act.[24] Presently, the scheme is implemented on a pilot basis in 53 selected districts and proposals are under consideration to scale it up to 200 additional 'high burden districts' in 2015–16.[25] The eligible beneficiaries would receive the incentive given under the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) for Institutional delivery and the incentive received under JSY would be accounted towards maternity benefits so that on an average a woman gets ₹6,000 (US$84)[26]

Integrated Child Development Services

It is a government programme in India which provides food, preschool education, primary healthcare, cash transfers to families, immunization, health check-up and referral services to children under 6 years of age and their mothers.[27] The scheme was launched in 1975, discontinued in 1978 by the government of Morarji Desai, and then relaunched by the Tenth Five Year Plan.

Tenth five-year plan also linked ICDS to Anganwadi centres established mainly in rural areas and staffed with frontline workers.[28] In addition to fighting malnutrition and ill health, the programme is also intended to combat gender inequality by providing girls the same resources as boys.

During the 2018–19 fiscal year, the Indian central government allocated ₹16,335 crores ($2.18 billion) to the programme.[29] The widespread network of ICDS has an important role in combating malnutrition especially for children of weaker groups.[30]

National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme

National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, is an Indian labour law and social security measure that aims to guarantee the 'right to work'. This act was passed in September 2005 under the UPA government of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. It aims to enhance livelihood security in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.[31][32] As of 2020, the government allocated Rs 60,000 crore ($8.19 billion) for this scheme.[33]

National Social Assistance Scheme

The National Social Assistance Programme is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the Government of India that provides financial assistance to the widows and persons with disabilities in the form of social pensions. As of 2018, the government allocated $1.4 billion to this programme.

Accident Assurance Scheme

Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana is available to people (Indian Resident or NRI) between 18 and 70 years of age with bank accounts. It has an annual premium of ₹12 (17¢ US) exclusive of taxes. The GST is exempted on Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana. The amount is automatically debited from the account. This insurance scheme can have one year cover from 1 June to 31 May and would be offered through banks and administered through public sector general insurance companies.[34]

In case of unexpected death or full disability, the payment to the nominee will be ₹2 lakh (US$2,800) and in case of partial Permanent disability ₹1 lakh (US$1,400). Full disability has been defined as loss of use in both eyes, hands or feet. Partial Permanent disability has been defined as loss of use in one eye, hand or foot.[35][36] Further, death due to suicide, alcohol, drug abuse, etc. are not covered.

Welfare Measure in various states

Below are some of the measures undertaken at the state level for social security and welfare purposes in India.

West Bengal

Kanyashree is an initiative taken by the Government of West Bengal to improve the life and the status of the girls by helping economically backward families with cash so that families do not arrange the marriage of their girl child before eighteen years because of economic problem. The purpose of this initiative is to uplift those girls who are from poor families and thus can't pursue higher studies due to tough economic conditions. It has been given international recognition by the United Nations Department of International Development and the UNICEF.

The scheme has two components:

  1. Annual scholarship of Rs. 1000.00
  2. One time grant of Rs. 25,000.00

The annual scholarship is for unmarried girls aged 13–18 years enrolled in class VIII-XII in government recognized regular or equivalent open school or vocational / technical training courses. Recently the bar of income is withdrawn by Gov. W.B. now every girl can apply for that scheme.The Scheme has two conditional cash benefit components.

  1. The first is K1, an annual scholarship of Rs. 1000/- to be paid annually to the girls from 13 to 18 years of age group for every year that they remain in education, provided they are unmarried at the time. (Note: During the years 2013-14 and 2014-1 the annual scholarship was Rs. 500/-).
  2. The second benefit is K2, a one-time grant of 25,000/-, to be paid when girls turn 18, provided that they are engaged in an academic or occupations pursuit and are unmarried at the time.

The term 'education' encompasses secondary and higher secondary education, as well as the various vocational, technical and sports courses available for this age group. To ensure an equity focus, the scheme is open only to girls from families whose annual income is R. 1,20,000/- or less. For girls with special needs, girls who have lost both parents, as well as for girls currently residing in Juvenile Justice homes, this criterion is waived. Although the annual scholarship is payable only when girls reach Class VIII, this, criterion is waived for girls with special needs whose disability is 40% or more.

Tamil Nadu

Amma Unavagam (Tamil: அம்மா உணவகம்) is a food subsidisation programme run by the Government of Tamil Nadu in India.It is a first of the kind scheme run by any government in India. It has been an inspiration for many states like Odisha, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh which later proposed similar schemes seeing its success.[37]

Under the scheme, municipal corporations of the state-run canteens serving subsidised food at low prices.[38] The genesis of the scheme could be traced to the concept of rural restaurants promoted by Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute.[39] The literal meaning of the name of the scheme Amma Unavagam is Mother's canteen. Amma translates to mother in Tamil, but is also a reference to Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who introduced this restaurant chain as part of government schemes aimed at aiding economically disadvantaged sections of society.[40]

See also

References
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  2. Ravi, Reethu (2020-05-04). "COVID-19: West Bengal Announces Rs 10 Lakh Health Insurance For Frontline Workers, Journalists". thelogicalindian.com. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  3. "About UIDAI". UIDAI. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  4. "'Adhaar' most sophisticated ID programme in the world : World Bank". Daiji World. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  5. https://pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1577032
  6. Motiani, Preeti (2020-01-13). "How to transfer your EPF account online". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
  7. "uan Registration & activation status procedure". epfuanlogin. 30 April 2018.
  8. "3+ ways to know your EPF Balance with uan & mobile". epfuanlogin.com. 30 September 2018.
  9. "pf transfer withdrawal process -TDS". epfuanlogin. 30 April 2018.
  10. "EPFO UAN Member portal Login registration features passbook etc - UAN Login Unified Portal UAN Member portal login". UAN Login Unified Portal UAN Member portal login.
  11. https://www.epfuanlogin.com/download-uan-card/ Download UAN Card
  12. https://surejob.in/check-pf-balance.html/ withdraw PF
  13. Ayushman Bharat Yojana
  14. https://financialservices.gov.in/new-initiatives/schemes
  15. Chettiparambil-Rajan, Angelique (July 2007). "India: A Desk Review of the Mid-Day Meals Programme" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  16. "Frequently Asked Questions on Mid Day Meal Scheme" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  17. "About the Mid Day Meal Scheme". Mdm.nic.in. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  18. "Convention on the Rights of the Child". United Nations. 20 November 1989. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  19. "India and United Nations – Human Rights". Archived from the original on 2 May 2010. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  20. "More..." Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  21. 10 lakh homes built under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin): Government, Economic Times, 1 Dec 2017.
  22. https://pmayg.nic.in/netiay/home.aspx
  23. https://thewire.in/gender/maternity-benefit-programme
  24. "PUCL plea in SC questions delay in implementation". The Hindu. 2015-05-31. Retrieved 2015-12-23.
  25. "India's unrealised maternity entitlement". The Hindu. 2015-03-28. Retrieved 2015-12-23.
  26. "Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana". vikaspedia.in. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  27. "INTEGRATED CHILD DEVELOPMENT SERVICES (ICDS) SCHEME". Government of India. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  28. Michael Lokshin; Monica Das Gupta; Michele Gragnolati andOleksiy Ivaschenko (2005). "Improving Child Nutrition? The Integrated Child Development Services in India" (PDF). Development and Change. 36 (4): 613–640. doi:10.1111/j.0012-155X.2005.00427.x. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  29. "Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)".
  30. "Has the ICDS helped reduce stunting in India?". www.ideasforindia.in. Retrieved 2015-10-09.
  31. Ministry of Rural Development (2005). "The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (NREGA) – Operational Guidelines" (PDF). " Ministry of Rural Development", Government of India. p. 1. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  32. Nationwide review of rural job scheme NREGS ordered by government, archived from the original on 2016-04-06
  33. https://www.businesstoday.in/union-budget-2020/decoding-the-budget/budget-2020-govt-reduces-spending-on-mgnrega-allocates-rs-60000-crore-for-fy21/story/395294.html
  34. "Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY)-accidental insurance". revexpo.com. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
  35. "Jan Suraksha: Social security for masses, pricing woes for insurers", Business Standard, 8 May 2015
  36. "Banks advertise Pradhan Mantri Bima Yojana ahead of the roll out", Live Mint, 8 May 2015
  37. "Jayalalithaa : A political career with sharp rises and steep falls". The Hindu. 6 December 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  38. "New budget restaurants to be renamed Amma Unavagam". The Hindu. 24 February 2013.
  39. Public donations can be channeled for setting up rural restaurants
  40. "Mother of welfare schemes". The Hindu. 6 December 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
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