Social Security Measures and Informal Sector in India: An Overview

The Indian labour market is primarily informal, both historically and currently. The informal sector is often referred to as the 'unorganized sector', and individuals employed in this sector are commonly referred to as 'unorganized workers'. Over 90% of people in India's labour market were engaged in informal employment. This paper attempts to examine the existing labour laws, acts, and social security measures designed for marginal communities in the unorganized sector. Study findings suggested that measures have been successful efforts in terms of providing the integrated database for unorganized workers under the eShram initiative of the government of India. Although schemes provide social security, there has been inconsistency in the performance of the schemes. The study recommends that proper awareness of the scheme should be planned to reach the potential beneficiary, as well as a robust monitoring mechanism for the evaluation of the measures by adopting both top-down and bottom-up approaches.