The government, on Friday, will launch an ambitious pilot project seeking to provide social security to 37 crore (370 million) workers in the unorganised sector.
As per the scheme, covering the entire working population in the informal sector, which constitutes 93 per cent of the labour force in the country, a monthly pension of Rs 500 would be offered on retirement, permanent or temporary disability or to the widow of a worker.
The scheme will be implemented on a pilot basis as a prelude to a central legislation for the unorganised sector.
The Union Cabinet at its meeting on January 7 had approved the scheme in place of the proposed central legislation.
Once the pilot scheme is implemented, the government will be able to earmark and plug loopholes, if any, and thereby make the proposed legislation much more sound, a labour ministry official said.
At the Cabinet meeting, it was felt if a scheme of such a large-scale was to be implemented and given a statutory backing, it should be made sound enough to ensure its success.
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