New Delhi: The interim budget doled out Rs 6,000 a year, guaranteed income, to each of the poor, small and marginal farmers. Piyush Goyal revealed the government will incur around Rs 75,000 crore on account of the scheme.
What’s unorganised sector?
The workers in unorganised sector include the rickshaw pullers, bidi makers, rag pickers, those working on roadside stalls and construction sites, homeless labourers etc. Those who work as domestic helps and maids also form part of this segment. These workers don’t have a government backed or a company backed system of building a retirement corpus. However, they themselves can start schemes like public provident fund etc for their retirement times. But low wages don’t allow them to set aside funds for building a future or emergency fund.
How many workers are there?
According to Piyush Goyal, there are around 42 crore workers and labourers in the unorganised sector, forming over 32% of country’s 1.3 billion people. Goyal informed the house that almost half of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) comes from this unorganised sector. The government has termed the pension scheme for these workers as a “mega yojna”, and one of the biggest in the world.
What’s the scheme?
The scheme is ‘Pradhan Mantri Shram-Yogi Maandhan’ for workers and labourers in the unorganised sector. Besides, ‘Ayushman Bharat’ and ‘Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana’ and ‘Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana’, are similar schemes already in force in the country. Under the new scheme, each and every worker, earning Rs 15,000 per month, in the sector will be entitled to get Rs 3,000 per month pension. This means a worker can get Rs 36,000 pension in a year which by all measures is not a meagre amount. The government has earmarked Rs 500 crore for the purpose in the interim budget. It has also indicated more funds will be provided as and when it is required. It will be implemented from the current financial year.
How and who will benefit?
A worker or a labourer earning up to Rs 15,000 per month can subscribe to the scheme once it is put into force. They can make a contribution of Rs 55 or Rs 100 every month. The contribution will be made up to the age of 60 years. The government will also contribute matching amount. If a worker is taking part in the scheme at the age of 18, he will have to contribute Rs 55 every month till he or she attains the age of 60 years. And, if a worker starts the scheme at the age of 29, he or she will have to contribute Rs 100 per month till they attain the age of 60 years. The former will make yearly contribution of Rs 660, while the later would make a contribution of Rs 1,200 in a year. The workers can start taking pension after their retirement at the age of 60 years.
Read more:PM Modi to launch pension scheme for unorganised sector tomorrow
