India 50 Years of Independence: 1947-97 Status, Growth & Development (Social Security A Critical Survey)

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Since Independence, there has been a very significant increase in the scope and content of social security provision to the organised sector, notably through the ESIS, the EPF and the schemes linked to the latter. While, without doubt, social security legislation and schemes have benefited workers, a number of evaluations- official and non official-have drawn attention to defects in their design and shortcomings in their functioning. It is in this context, that the author conducted a Survey of Social Security Schemes in 1993 under the Research Project on Strategies and Financing of Human Development sponsored by the UNDP. With his meticulous knowledge of the subject, backed by extensive administrative experience, the author has provided an analytical description of the social security schemes applicable to the workers in the organised sector and followed it up with suggestions for reform. This will be. a most useful contribution to efforts to restructure, integrate and reform these schemes, the need for which has been accepted in principle by the Government of India in the Approach to the Ninth Five Year Plan. This book is timely and valuable to all-the officials, employers' and employees' associations, academics and others interested in the social security schemes in India.

Mr. R.K.A. Subrahmanya was formely Additional Secretary to the Government of India in the Union Ministry of Labour. Presently, he is the Secretary General of the Social Security Association of India.

Many persons have helped me in producing this book. Of these, the author would like to mention 'in particular' Sri M. Rajasekhar who typed the final version of the draft and Sri B.S. Vittalachar who read through the material painstakingly and pointed out the necessary corrections. The author is thankful to all of them. He is particularly thankful to Sri Praveen Mittal of the B.R. Publishing Corporation for having undertaken to publish the book.

I feel honoured to have been requested by my friend, Sri. R.K.A. Subrahmanya, Secretary-General of the Social Security Association of India, to contribute the foreword to this volume on Social Security-A Critical Survey. Even during the colonial period, the beginnings were made in India towards extending social security to workers in the organised industrial sector. Since Independence, there has been a very significant increase in the scope and content of social security provision to the organised sector, notably through the ESIS, the EPF and schemes linked to the latter. While, without doubt, social security legislation and schemes have benefited workers, a number of evaluations-official and non-official-have drawn attention to defects in their design and shortcomings in their functioning. It is in this context that Sri. R.K.A. Subrahmanya's survey is both timely and valuable. With his meticulous knowledge of the subject, backed by extensive administrative experience, he has provided an analytical description of the schemes and has followed it up with suggestions for reform. This will be a most useful contribution to efforts to restructure, integrate and reform these schemes, the need for which has been accepted in principle by the Government of India in the Approach to the Ninth Five Year Plan. This volume is one of the substantial outputs from the Government of India-UNDP Project on The Strategies and Financing of Human Development in India' and the Project can be pleased to have funded the study. I recommend the volume to all the officials, employers' and employees' associations, academics and others interested in this important subject and, once again, congratulate Sri. R.K.A. Subrahmanya.

**Contents and Sample Pages**