Vital Social Security

The role of farmers in feeding people cannot be overstated, nor can the work of sewage workers who keep the urban drainage flowing. Likewise, construction workers build crucial infrastructure that enables travel and trade, essential for prosperity. Street vendors ensure that the goods we need never go out of stock. These and more indispensable workers keep the urban centres, industries, and the economy as a whole functional.  But guess what? These workers are largely treated as second-class employees without formal safety nets under social protection. 

While access to health insurance, pension and other social security benefits was largely enjoyed by a select few, including the public servants, as an exclusive privilege, workers in the informal economy lacked access to income protection, a safety net during illness, accidents, old age, or economic shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic – all of which disproportionately affect the informal workers. All these risk factors not only put them at the mercy of their employers but also force them to lead a precarious existence. 

These harsh realities of life also trap, impoverish, and perpetuate the cycle of intergenerational poverty of the vulnerable workers. They also risk sinking them into spiralling debt when falling sick or when providing for the educational or health needs of the family. 

But, with the launch of a National Campaign on Social Security for Informal Workers and the Self-Employed by Labour, Employment and Social Security Fund (SSF) and International Labour Organisation (ILO) on Wednesday, such deprivations for these workers will be a thing of the past. This effort marks a giant leap towards fulfilling the constitutional promise of social justice and social democracy. The campaign brings together government institutions, employers' and workers' organisations, local governments, civil society, and the media, to expand social security coverage to those in need. 

More than 86 per cent of Nepal's workforce is found to engage in informal employment, far beyond the reach of labour laws and social security nets, with women constituting the vast majority. The absence of social security can mean the deprivation of maternity or sick leaves and loss of income, as well as the lack of dignity during old age when the body is unable to work. 

However, the newly launched initiative addresses all these injustices when implemented in its letter and spirit. The fact that the support scheme aims to strengthen women's economic agency and reduce vulnerability across generations is praiseworthy. This expansion also marks the crucial steps towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, including those related to ending poverty, promoting health and well-being, and achieving gender equality, among others.

Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Rajendra Singh Bhandari's remark that social security acts as a protective shield and a lack of one risks leading a nation to social unrest, conflict and forced migration deeply resonated with us. Grounded in the principle of inclusion, the initiative is fundamental to equity, economic resilience and inclusive development. 

Government authorities, workers, and employers must wholeheartedly support this campaign and work in tandem to build a just society where every worker's basic right to social security is firmly upheld, regardless of the work or its duration. This is a legal and moral imperative to fulfil the constitutional aspiration of guaranteeing contribution-based social security as a fundamental right for every worker.