Unorganised sector pension: Only 1,035 register out of approx. 7 lac workers

Al Ngullie
Dimapur, July 28 (EMN): Out of an estimated more than seven lakh workers in the agriculture and general unorganised sector in the state of Nagaland, only a total of 1, 035 people have registered for the pension scheme Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan (PM-YM) so far, a pension scheme for workers in the unorganised sector.
In March 5 2019, the government of Nagaland had inaugurated the PM-SYM, a pension scheme formulated by the central government for workers in the unorganised sector in the country.
‘We Nagas don’t seem to be interested,’ says W Temwang Konyak, assistant labour commissioner for Dimapur district.

‘People don’t like short term (incentives),’ he replied when queried about the remarkably low number of people opening PMSYM pension accounts.

To the query about the demographic of labourers and workers in the state’s unorganised sector, the labour officer replied in the negative. He said that the state’s government establishments do not have data from surveys or studies that may explain categories of labourers, their sectors and even their economic demographics.

Let alone state, the Labour establishments do not have data about said sector for even the district, which is the nerve economic centre for Nagaland.

‘We (Labour) department are not taking surveys,’ he said at his establishment office on Friday, July 26, at Purana Bazar. He said the Labour department is primarily an inspection establishment that regulates the functioning and observance of laws and labour administrations in labour areas, and not a welfare implementation agency.

‘Labour (department) is more like an inspection department,’ he said.

The breakup
The Labour office at Dimapur furnished details concerning the number of people who have registered for the pension. It is stated to be the latest figures. From Dimapur, 192 people have opened accounts in the pension scheme. Kohima has 241; Mon 200; Tuensang 92; Longleng 65; Phek 62; Kiphire 16; Peren 32; Mokokchung 34; Wokha 46, and Zunheboto district has 55 registered for the pension.

In its Report on Conditions of Work and Promotion of Livelihoods in the Unorganised Sector, the National Commission for Enterprises in the unorganised sector defines the unorganised sector thus: “…consists of all unincorporated private enterprises owned by individuals or households engaged in the sale and production of goods and services operated on a proprietary or partnership basis and with less than ten total workers.”

In other words, the organised sector is an economic sector where employment terms are fixed and regular, and the employees get assured work. Unorganised sector is one where the employment terms are not fixed and regular, as well as the enterprises, are not registered with the government.

A little help from Census 2011
For the PMSYM scheme, the numbers are still at the trickle. The lack of hard and sterilised data makes it difficult to gauge just which demographic the workers belong too.

Nonetheless, there may be a small respite to gauge how many labourers there may be in the state’s unorganised sector. The closest set of data concerning this invisible category of workers in the state dates back to almost ten years—the Nagaland Census 2011 which vaguely lists “cultivators,” “agriculture labourers,” and “other workers.”

Previously, census data have seen controversy too with community organisations and stakeholders having criticised it as unreliable.

It is generally accepted that while “80%” of the Naga population, which is an oft-quoted percentage from government and lay people alike, are engaged in agriculture, agriculture labourers and “other workers” do comprise non-Naga and indigenous non-Naga persons too. While there seem to be no researched data from credible institutions that supports the assertion that strictly “80%” of the people are actually engaged in agriculture production activities, it may be considered an aggregation based on the perception of Nagaland being largely an agriculture production-based society, especially in the rural areas.

According to the “distribution of main workers by category wise” data set in Census 2011, there are 7,41,179 workers in Nagaland listed in “cultivators,” “agriculture labourers,” and “other workers” categories. Dimapur alone has 1,22,358 workers. Interestingly, Mon district trails close second at 1,04,981 workers. (See table for details)

Even more interesting is the fact that both Dimapur and Mon are considered two of the most porous districts in the state, sharing a long border with neighbouring Assam. Community organisations in Nagaland have often blamed the neighbouring state to be the source of floating populations and illegal immigrant workers.

Data issues 
According to the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), the total employment in the country during 2009-10 was of 46.5 crore comprising around 2.8 crore in the organised sector. 43.7 crore workers were in the unorganised sector. Out of these workers in the unorganised sector, there are 24.6 crore workers employed in the agricultural sector, about 4.4 crore in construction work and remaining in manufacturing and services and others.

The commercial district of the state is believed to be home to the highest number of unorganised sector workers—and illegal immigrants. It is one reason the district is often used as a colloquial analogy to Tripura, another north-eastern state where the indigenous tribal population has been reduced to a minority by illegal immigrants.

Dimapur district is a non-Inner Line Permit administration unit of the government, which is one reason why it is generally accepted that the town is perceived to be populated by a huge floating population of migrant workers from neighbouring Assam, for instance, who come to work in the daytime and leave at night.

This number of people who have registered for the scheme is as sketchy as the lack of hard data and proper study about how many workers or their categories there are in the unorganised sector in the hilly state.

Nagaland was once dubbed ‘data nightmare’ by a local newspaper due to the consistent lack of data concerning some of the most important socio-economic components of industrial and economic measuring for a state.

A similar lack of research engagement may be observed in crime statistics, education, transport and general development peripherals.

The PM-SYM scheme was introduced as part of welfare goals in the Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act of 2008, which mandates the central government to formulate suitable welfare schemes for unorganised sectors workers on matters related to old age protection.

The scheme will provide a fixed pension of INR 3000 after workers in said sector attain the age of 60 years on the condition that the workers contribute “an affordable” amount monthly during their working years. The contribution chart starts at 18 years of age (INR 55 per month) and it goes up to age 40 (INR 200 per month).

This article is one of a series of reports published in Eastern Mirror as part of the National Foundation of India fellowship, New Delhi.