The government is gearing up to expand the coverage of the social security scheme even to those engaged in the informal sector and among self-employed persons. The Social Security Fund (SSF) is going to enlist these sections – persons in informal sector and self-employed – of people from August 16, as per Bibek Panthi, spokesperson of the SSF. As per the scheme, the workers in the informal sector and self-employed persons should contribute at least 20.37 per cent of their basic salary set by the government while the government will add 9.37 percent.

Eleven percent will be contributed by the concerned employer. The amount to be deposited by the government could be deposited by any of the three tiers of government (federal, provincial and local level). The government has fixed Rs 15,000 as the minimum wage for workers in the informal sector, out of which Rs 9,385 makes up basic wages while Rs 5,615 is dearness allowance. The SSF is planning to introduce a host of programmes, such as medical treatment, accident and disability, dependent family security plan and old-age security plan, among others, for the informal sector workers and self-employed ones.

As per the plan, those enlisted in the scheme will receive Rs 100,000 annually for medical treatment in designated hospitals from the upcoming programme.

In the case of sickness and pregnancy, 60 percent of the basic salary will be provided to the contributors. The beneficiary will get Rs 700,000 in case of accident and at least 60 percent of the basic salary in case of disability.

However, the contributor should have worked at least nine months to get medical, accident and dependency family facility as well as worked for at least 180 months and be above 60 years to get old-age facility to be provided by the Fund. The workers in the informal sector and self-employed ones can join the SSF by filling an application at the Fund. The self-employed persons should submit a photocopy of their citizenship paper, PAN or tax registration certificates if they wish to join the SSF.

Hundreds of thousands of people, mostly uneducated or unskilled ones, are employed in the informal sector, many of them in the rural parts and in the construction sector. They do not get employment opportunities throughout the year. The main question here is, how can they regularly contribute to the SSF if they are laid off? Will they be able to get their deposited money back if they fail to contribute to the SSF regularly? How can a person whose basic monthly salary is just Rs 15,000 contribute upto 20.37 per cent to the SSF? However, this is a welcome move of the government to include the workers engaged in the informal sector and those who are self-employed. This scheme will definitely encourage them to save hard-earned money for medical treatment and old-age. But the basic wages must be increased to make them sustainable.

The legal formalities to enroll them in the scheme should be simplified, and they must be able to get such services from the concerned ward offices. The people engaged in the informal sector do not know about the long-term benefits of this scheme. The SSF, therefore, must launch an awareness drive across the country, particularly in the rural areas.

Consumer rights

You don't need the National Human Rights Commission to tell us that consumer rights are not protected. Among others, adulteration of food products sold in the market, sale of date expired food items, misleading advertisement about goods and services, and artificial price hike are what plague the ordinary consumer the most. In the most recent case, the price of rice has increased in the market without any rhyme or reason just days after India put a ban on non-Basmati rice export. If the government and the consumers were aware, this needn't have occurred as Nepal produces most of the rice it consumes, with the country importing only about half a million tons.

Consumers are being cheated thanks to a nexus between those in power and the business community. Consumer forums are there, but they are passive and operate on partisan lines as they are aligned to one party or the other. Unless the government can hold someone accountable for the disarray in the market, consumer rights will remain on paper only. Of late, Kathmandu's mayor has started monitoring drinking water jars in the market, maybe he could extend it to food items. This will inspire other municipalities to follow suit.

A version of this article appears in the print on August 14, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.