ARTICLE | COVID & Informal Workers
Lessons from the government’s social protection measures during the second wave of COVID-19
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ith the Covid-19 crisis, the urban informal workers, largely invisibilized by modern urban development, were visible at least on mainstream news, and social media. “The visceral images of informal sector workers trudging hundreds of kilometres in the heat during the first lockdown in 2020 inadvertently acted as a Worker’s Rights March,” says Meena Menon from the Working People’s Charter. This year, state governments were expected to be prepared to support the returning migrants. In April 2021, as localised lockdowns were implemented and the COVID situation worsened dramatically, these same urban informal workers, struggling to cope with the new wave, were subjected to more lost livelihoods and despair. In this context, unlike last year, it was expected that all the states, with their learnings from past failures and fresh experience of dealing with migrant informal workers, would react in a quicker, more dynamic and robust fashion to guarantee a basic social protection floor. IGSSS and YUVA’s joint study ‘Seeking Justice for Informal Workers During the COVID-19 Second Wave’ assessed social protection to the informal sector through orders and announcements of the union government and 10 state governments (Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh) from April 1 to June 10, 2021. From the beginning of April (end of March in states like Maharashtra), lockdowns lasted in their most extreme forms till mid June. During this time, through the announcements of relief
42 November 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in
measures, the economic, social and health needs of the four largest groups of urban informal sector workers (i.e. construction workers, domestic workers, street vendors and waste pickers) were addressed, but unevenly so. Only three orders were passed by the Government of India, specifically in favour of all these groups during the second wave. Two out of the three orders were related to the continuous provision of dry rations to all PDS cardholders. Only one circular ordered the registration of domestic workers. In the same period, 10 states which have been examined in this report due to them hosting a majority of migrant workers in the country, released a total of 33 orders specific to the four worker groups. Seven orders were related to provisions of rations and cooked meals to vulnerable groups, five orders calling for registration drives for workers, nine out of 10 states ordered cash transfers for some of the worker groups, one ordered the widening and continuation of a financial loan scheme, six states released orders declaring some of the groups as essential workers and one order setup a grievance redressal mechanism for workers to be assisted. Although most states ordered financial assistance to COVID orphans, only three states ordered the inclusion of these most vulnerable worker groups in their vaccination priority lists.
Social protection measures for specific informal livelihood groups
Of the 10 states, only five states provided cash transfers to registered construction workers between `1000 – `5000. Registration with BOCW welfare boards is vital to access social protection, but only three out of the 10 states (Assam, Gujarat and
Odisha) ordered new registration drives for construction workers during the second wave. Construction activities were allowed through official government circulars in Gujarat, Delhi and Maharashtra. Among the 10 states, only the Maharashtra government ordered direct cash transfer of `1500 to registered domestic workers. Although there are more than four lakh domestic workers in Maharashtra, the relief was only due to be provided to a little over one lakh of them. There was no announcement categorising domestic workers as essential service providers. But Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) allowed domestic workers to work and travel during the lockdown and only one state (Madhya Pradesh) prioritised domestic workers for vaccination. The central government meanwhile has released an order to conduct an All-India Survey on Domestic Workers, poised to be published by November 2021, according to the Ministry of Labour and Employment. Only four states (Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh) announced cash transfer schemes for street vendors. These were meant only for registered street vendors, or those who were beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) credit scheme announced in 2020. An ongoing scheme for vendors, Jagan Thodu of the Andhra Pradesh government, promising `10,000 interest free loans to vendors, was renewed during the second wave via a government circular. Only the Gujarat and Assam governments released circulars allowing street vendors to operate freely without police harassment. The Assam government announced the setup of compulsory
