Lok Sabha Question No. 163 (STARRED), answered on 2022-12-19
Subject: Improvement in the Life and Welfare of Farm Labourers
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: Sanjay Haribhau Jadhav

## MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. 163 TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.12.2022

## IMPROVEMENT IN THE LIFE AND WELFARE OF FARM LABOURERS

†*163. SHRI SANJAY JADHAV:

Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state:

- (a)the details of the steps taken by the Government for improvement in the life and welfare of farm labourers;
- (b)the details of the farm labourers benfited from the said schemes in Parbhani Parliamentary Constituency of Maharashtra including the plans of the Government for their upliftment;
- (c)the details of the welfare schemes  run by the Government particularly for rural and farm labourers;
- (d)the  funds  allocated  under  the  said  schemes  during  the  last  three years and the current year, State and district-wise, particularly  in Maharashtra; and
- (e)the steps being taken by the Government to meet the needs of farm labourers in connection with proper education, living conditions and daily needs etc.?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SHRI BHUPENDER YADAV)

(a) to (e): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT  REFERED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  TO  (e)  OF  LOK SABHA  STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  163  FOR  19.12.2022  REGARDING 'IMPROVEMENT IN THE LIFE AND WELFARE OF FARM LABOURERS' RASIED BY SHRI SANJAY JADHAV

(a) to (e): As  per  the  provisions  of  the  Unorganised  Workers'  Social Security Act (UWSS), 2008, the Government is committed to provide  Social Security to all the workers of the unorganised sector including  farm  labourers  by  formulating  suitable  welfare  schemes  on the   matters  relating  to:  (i)  life  and  disability  cover;  (ii)  health  and maternity benefits; (iii) old age protection; and (iv) any other benefit as may be determined by the Central Government.

The  Life  and  Disability  cover  is  provided  through  Pradhan Mantri  Jeevan  Jyoti  Bima  Yojana  (PMJJBY)  and  Pradhan  Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY). PMJJBY is available to the people in the age group of 18 to 50 years having a bank/post office account who give their consent to join/enable auto debit. Risk coverage under this scheme is  for  Rs.  2.00  lakh  in  case  of  death  of  insured,  due  to  any reason, at an annual premium of Rs. 436/- which is to be auto-debited from  the  subscriber's  bank/post  office  account.  Total  cumulative enrollments  under  PMJJBY  is  93,14,213  in  state  of  Maharashtra  till 30.11.2022.  The  Pradhan  Mantri  Suraksha  Bima  Yojana  (PMSBY)  is also available to the people in the age group of 18 to 70 years with a bank/post  office  account  who  give  their  consent  to  join/enable  auto debit. The risk coverage under the scheme is for Rs 2.00 lakh in case of accidental death or total permanent disability and Rs. 1.00 lakh for partial  permanent  disability;  due  to  accident  at  a  premium  of  Rs.  20 per  annum  which  is  to  be  deducted  from  the  account  holder's bank/post office account through 'auto-debit'. Total cumulative enrollments  under  PMSBY  is  2,13,70,715  in  state  of  Maharashtra  till 30.11.2022.

The  Ayushman  Bharat-Pradhan  Mantri  Jan  Arogya  Yojana (ABPMJAY) provides an annual health cover of Rs. 5 lakhs per eligible family for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization corresponding to 1949 treatment procedures across 27 specialties.

In  order  to  provide  old  age  social  security  cover,  the Government of India launched Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-Dhan (PM-SYM)  pension  scheme  in  2019.  It  provides  monthly  pension  of Rs. 3000/- after attaining the age of 60 years. The workers in the age group of 18-40 years whose monthly income is Rs.15000/- or less and who are not a member of EPFO/ESIC/NPS (Govt. funded) can join the PM-SYM  Scheme.  Under  this  scheme  50%  monthly  contribution  is payable by the beneficiary and equal matching contribution is paid by the Central  Government.  Under  the  scheme,  the  funds  towards Government's contribution are provided to LIC being the fund manager. Under  the  scheme,  the  constituency  wise  data  is  not  maintained, however, a total of 7416 unorganised workers including farm labourers have been enrolled in Prabhani district of Maharashtra.

Mahatma  Gandhi  National  Rural  Employment  Guarantee Scheme (Mahatma Gandhi NREGS) is a demand driven wage employment scheme which provides for the enhancement of livelihood security  of  the  households  in  rural  areas  by  providing  at  least  one hundred days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to  every  household  whose  adult  members  volunteer  to  do  unskilled manual work.

Apart from above, other schemes such as Public Distribution  System  through  One  Nation  One  Ration  Card  scheme under  National  Food  Security  Act,    Deen  Dayal  Upadhyay  Gramin Kaushal Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Gareeb Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan, Mahatma Gandhi Bunkar Bima Yojana, Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana, PMSVANidhi, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY) and  etc. are also available for the  unorganised  workers  including  farm  labourers  depending  upon their eligibility criteria.

These  schemes  are  demand  driven  and  accordingly  the budget is allocated.

Further,  the  Government  has  launched  e-Shram  portal  in August,  2021  with  an  objective  to  create  National  Database  of Unorganised  Workers  and  to  facilitate  delivery  of  Social  Security Schemes/Welfare Schemes to the unorganised workers. As on 9.12.2022,  more  than  28.45  crore  unorganised  workers  have  been registered on e-Shram portal. The total count of unorganised workers including  farm  labourers  registered  on  e-Shram  portal  is  1,69,639  in Prabhani district of Maharashtra till 13.12.2022.

The  Right  of  Children  to  free  and  compulsory  Education (RTE) Act, 2009 mandates the appropriate Government to provide free and compulsory elementary education to every child of the age of 6-14 years in a neighborhood school.

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