The question is will an educated unemployed be able to lead a life. Several times emergency spending cannot be postponed and they come under the category of needs such as healthcare spending or hospitalization.
Rich people fear this- after taking on lots of loans and making huge commitments, A sudden loss of income.... become overnight JOBLESS- After this catastrophe-Next big "What Next"? We all witnessed heart rending scenes on the suicide of a kingfisher staffer or for that matter farmers killing themselves because they cannot lead a decent life. I feel the government should step in to guarantee life for those who lose jobs, including the rich. How?
Here's how....
Universal Basic income(UBI) is being thought at an income supplement of 14000/- per family per year. If multiplied over the whole population, the bill comes to around 4 lakh 20 thousand crore. This is nearly the subsidy spending that the government does every year.
If the money for this is going to come from stopping subsidies of all kinds, Would it be feasible? It looks like... Then why not go ahead? There are several problems associated with poverty eradication that come with UBI. If government withdraws from providing healthcare, education and other services such as public distribution(rations) will not profit minded entrepreneurs take advantage and drive the prices up. Geographically dispersed cities/villages it may be difficult to procure same standard services at similar prices.
Here is a Utopian Dream that I envision for the future...
Anyone(Indian) should be able to access social security(ON DEMAND).
Some of the benefits should be conditional and some unconditional.
They(benefits) should not be dependent on where the person lives(Geography).
Also there should be portability of benefits and the benefits should travel with the person wherever he/she goes. Benefits should also be accessible from multiple service points each independently run.
This cradle to grave benefit system should take care of most of the needs of the person. If he is disabled he should either be made productive or taken care of. If he is old and has not saved enough he needs to be taken care of. If in childhood his life is harmed he should be protected.
The problem is our welfare delivery system is currently geared up to deliver benefits(subsidies) to those who are already productive or having jobs/work. It assumes that such people do not have the purchasing power to buy goods and hence strives to give such goods at lower price(reflective of pre-green revolution mentality).
Government gives food subsidy to everyone under the poverty line irrespective of whether he is poor due to disability or due to ill-health or wantonly. It would be better to make such poor able to come out of poverty than to keep giving them low cost food and fuel.
What should we do under such circumstances when the service delivery system is geared up in a haphazard way.
Answer is to re-engineer it.
USA mandates that every person working in the country saves some percentage of his income towards social security and reaps benefits after retirement in old age. Is it possible for the system in India to re-engineer to such a possibility. What every political party in power does when it comes to power is announce a slew of schemes at saving now and using proceeds in looking after people in old age. When a different party comes to power it announces newer schemes with the same goals as those existing ones.
Present(existing) system:
People are saving money into EPF and organizations have upper hand in this scheme of things. NPS and PPF are other savings avenues. There is no holistic approach. Savings are done in fits and starts. People with sudden loss of income stare at starvation. It also does not in any way measure how much each person gets as benefits.
Proposed Migration:
With aadhaar linked benefit transfer measurement, we could map how much of benefits each family and each person, in every family, gets as income support. It would be possible to distill out list of those who do not get any benefits. If such people come forward in claiming unemployment doles they should be provided for. Several companies are now working for enabling cashless transactions in healthcare industry. Government is trying to provide for healthcare rendered in private sector. The catch is all employers should compulsorily register and mention their salary expenses for each employee. It might be challenging to provide security in a country with very few organizations and where majority of people are self-employed.
Present(existing) system:
People are saving money into EPF and organizations have upper hand in this scheme of things. NPS and PPF are other savings avenues. There is no holistic approach. Savings are done in fits and starts. People with sudden loss of income stare at starvation. It also does not in any way measure how much each person gets as benefits.
Proposed Migration:
With aadhaar linked benefit transfer measurement, we could map how much of benefits each family and each person, in every family, gets as income support. It would be possible to distill out list of those who do not get any benefits. If such people come forward in claiming unemployment doles they should be provided for. Several companies are now working for enabling cashless transactions in healthcare industry. Government is trying to provide for healthcare rendered in private sector. The catch is all employers should compulsorily register and mention their salary expenses for each employee. It might be challenging to provide security in a country with very few organizations and where majority of people are self-employed.
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