Exercise will help enrol these people under a central government pension scheme
Any effort to come to the rescue of the daily wagers and those who work in the unorganised sector invariably suffer for want of data. Most of these people are also in the dark about the government schemes they can avail. In a bid to bridge this gap and establish a substantial database, the deputy registrar of co-operative societies in Pune, which come under the state department of cooperation, has decided to rope in the participation of all housing societies in providing the data.
The chairpersons of all registered housing societies have been tasked with compiling the data on all domestic helps, security personnel, housekeeping and gardening staff as well drivers engaged in their societies by the residents. The data will be used to enrol each one of them under the central government’s Pradhan Mantri Shram-Yogi Maandhan (PMSYM) — a pension scheme with provision to provide other benefits.
The data compiled have to be sent to the Pune District Co-operative Housing Society Federation Ltd, which in turn will forward it to the state government so it can initiate accounts for the central government pension scheme in each of the worker’s names.
“There are over one lakh cooperative housing societies in Pune district. Most of the unorganised sector workers are engaged in these housing societies. Many housemaids, drivers, watchmen have been rendered jobless overnight after the lockdown. They should have some income and a pension for the future,” said Manisha Koshti, secretary of Pune District Cooperative Housing Federation.
She added that the initial order was issued by the development commissioner of unorganised labour under the department of industries, energy and labour. “The department of cooperatives has asked us to communicate with the societies to access detailed information about these sections,” she told Mirror.
Elaborating on the exercise called for, the Federation’s president, Suhas Patwardhan, explained, “Societies have to fill out the information sought on an Excel sheet, to enable the bulk enrolment of these unorganised sector workers under the government scheme, so they can start receiving money sent by the Centre in their accounts . Most of these workers have been sent home and are bound to suffer due to lack of work. Under the circumstances a pension scheme can come in handy.” He also shared that the federation is rallying for all its members to contribute to the Prime Minister and Chief Minister’s relief funds to help the country survive the ongoing crisis.
Manisha Date, who works as a domestic help at Kasewadi, pointed out, “The society I worked at for the past 15 years has asked me to stay at home for a whole month. In the absence of any alternative vocation, my situation has become difficult. Such a pension scheme as is being discussed will help tide over these difficult times.”
Dwelling on the idea behind the initiative, the deputy registrar of state cooperatives, Narayan Aghav, informed, “Since these societies have all the information of these people, they are best placed to create a proper verified data on them. Most of the workers are ignorant of the government schemes and we felt the need to enlist the help of societies in remedying the situation. There is also a plan to provide provisions to these people for the next three months without delay, using the scheme.”
Baba Kamble, president of Kashtakari Kamgar Panchayat, that works for the unorganised sector, estimated that the minimum assured pension must be around Rs 6,000 under the scheme. “But this is applicable only after their retirement. It is not clear what they will get now, when they are in dire need of financial help,” he said.
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