Uttar Pradesh: Of Rs 425 Crore Allocated for Workers in Unorganised Sector, Not a Penny Utilised

Allahabad: In spite of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath's claims regarding comprehensive development in the state, the government has failed to take any action for the over 45 million workers in the unorganised sector in recent years.

The state's budget exceeds Rs 8 lakh crores. However, surprisingly, the Yogi administration has not allocated any funds over the past four years for the benefit of workers in the unorganised sector.

On February 17, The Wire Hindi submitted a petition under the Right to Information Act to inquire about the initiatives implemented by the state government for workers in the unorganised sector. This petition sought information from the State Social Security Board regarding the schemes available for workers in the unorganised sectors and the financial expenditures associated with them over the past four years.

The state social security board oversees the registration of workers in the unorganised sector in Uttar Pradesh and is tasked with executing social security programs for this group.

The petition posed a question regarding the budget approved by the state government for unorganised sector workers during the financial years 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25. It sought to determine the specific schemes under which these budgets were allocated and the amount that was actually utilised from those budgets.

Responding to the RTI query, the board stated that during the initial three financial years, “Rs 112 crore annually” and “Rs 92 crore for the year 2024-25” were allocated for various schemes. However, these funds remained unutilised as no programs were implemented for the unorganised workforce.

In the past four years, the Yogi Adityanath administration has neither implemented any programs for the unorganised sector workers in the state nor spent any funds on such initiatives.

The subsequent query in the RTI application was regarding the existence of a system for the publicity of the schemes intended for unorganised sector workers in Uttar Pradesh. If such a system exists, what was the budget allocated for this purpose over the past four years, and what amount was actually utilised?

The social security board responded that Rs 5 lakh were allocated for the financial year 2021-22, and Rs 7,80,000 were earmarked for each of the years 2022-23, 2023-24, and 2024-25 for the promotion of these schemes. However, this funding remained unspent due to the absence of any operational schemes.

Clearly, when the department was not implementing any programs, their promotional efforts were pointless.

The social security board was also asked about the number of financial assistance applications received by the labour department from workers in the unorganised sector during these financial years, as well as how many workers received support. The board responded stating it had not received any such applications.

According to the Union government's e-Shram portal, there are over 30.68 crore unorganised sector workers in the country, with women constituting more than half of this population (53.68%). Among them, approximately 8 crore 38 lakh workers are registered in Uttar Pradesh, making for about 27.5% of the total workforce. Despite these significant numbers, the state government lacks any initiatives aimed at improving their conditions.

The harassment of contract workers is prevalent in UP, and the abundance of available labour in the market brings down their wages. Nevertheless, the government claims that it has not received any requests for assistance from these workers in the past four years.

Statistics show that in September 2022, the minimum daily wage was Rs 367 for unskilled workers, Rs 403 for semi-skilled workers, and Rs 452 for skilled workers. These rates have been adjusted to Rs 412, Rs 463 and Rs 503 per day, respectively, effective until March 31, 2025. Given the rampant inflation, this wage increase is grossly inadequate and fails to address the fundamental needs of an average worker's daily life.

Women workers in dire straits

Across India, over 53% of the workforce in the unorganised sector comprises women, and an estimated four crore women are employed in the unorganised sector in Uttar Pradesh. Their jobs primarily involve agriculture, construction and domestic services. Women engaged in agriculture in the state earn an average daily wage of Rs 200, resulting in a monthly income ranging from Rs 6,000 to Rs 8,000.

In contrast, the average monthly earnings for men in the same sector are approximately Rs 10,000 to Rs 11,000. The state government has no measures to guarantee minimum wages for this substantial population. The workforce in the unorganised sector comprise largely of individuals from Dalit, tribal and other marginalised communities, who face daily challenges in meeting their basic needs.

When The Wire Hindi asked the state's labor and service scheme minister Manohar Lal about the unutilised funds designated for the welfare of these workers, he said, “I have no information on the matter.”

When we reached out to Rakesh Tripathi, the state spokesperson for the Bharatiya Janata Party, he also expressed that he had no information regarding this issue.

This article has been translated from Hindi by Naushin Rehman. Read the original article here.

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