The European Commission's proposal must be strengthened to end corporate harm to human rights, the environment and climate

On 23 February 2022, the European Commission released its proposal for a directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence. This directive could represent a landmark step forward in minimising the negative impacts of businesses on workers, communities and the environment worldwide. In response, over 220 NGOs and trade unions from around the world welcome the proposal as an essential and long-awaited step toward corporate accountability, responsible business conduct and access to justice. 

However, the proposal contains significant flaws that risk preventing the directive from achieving the positive impact that people, planet, and climate urgently need. The undersigned human rights, labour and environmental organisations and networks call on the European Parliament and EU Member States to strengthen the text in line with what EU citizens, workers and communities affected by corporate abuses worldwide have vocally and publicly demanded.

The joint statement, signed by INSP!R Asia and several of our members, outlines our collective views on how to improve the proposal to guarantee that the law will effectively prevent corporate harm to human rights, the environment and climate; as well as provide victims of corporate abuse with access to effective remedies. link 

Anniversary Rana Plaza: Demand to ensure safe working environment in the garment sector

Today is that black, tragic day that we remember the factory collapse and killing of over 1.100 workers on 24th April at Rana Plaza in Savar, shocking Bangladesh and the world. WSM partner National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF) arranged a month-long campaign and programs for Rana Plaza Workers' Murder Day, to lobby for safer working environment in the garment industry.

As part of this month-long program "Rana Plaza, Tazreen - Never Again", a Workers Rally and a flower wreath were held at the Rana Plaza site and monument on Sunday, 24th April, 2022 at 10.30.

Through the rally, workers demanded a safe workplace for all garment workers in Bangladesh, so that tragedy like Rana Plaza or the Tazreen fire never happen again. NGWF arranged a short assembly before the start of the rally and speeches were given by the central leaders, Rafikul Islam Rafik, Mrs Nasima Akter, Md Kabir Hosssain, Md Faridul Islam, Md Faruk Khan, Sweety Sultana etc.

Research on Inequality and social security in Asia-Pacific

A very interesting research was done by Development Pathways for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), about Inequality and social security in the Asia-Pacific Region. The paper argues that high income inequality can engender a wide range of negative impacts an that investments in social security (universal schemes where contributory and tax financed mechanism are combined) are one of the most effective means of tackling inequality.  The report demonstrates that, both globally and in the Asia-Pacific region, universal social security systems are much more effective than poverty-targeted systems in reducing inequality. If countries in the region make the move to modern, universal lifecycle systems, the impacts on inequality would be impressive. And, the more that countries invest, the higher will be the impacts on family wellbeing, employment, social cohesion and economic growth.

You can read the full paper here.

Statement from the INSP!R Network for the International Women's Day: For a future of equality and access to the right to Social Protection

Under the slogan: For an equal future with access to the right to Social Protection, the International Network for Social Protection Rights - INSP!R demands on International Women's Day that women deserve an equal future without stigma, stereotypes or violence; a future that is sustainable, peaceful, with equal rights and opportunities for all.  

In these years, the COVID-19 pandemic provoked an unprecedented global crisis in the world of work, reflecting marked reductions in employment and labour participation, which translated into historic increases in unemployment (125 million jobs lost, according to ILO data), affecting women, young people and informal workers the most.  

The negative effects have contributed to the increase of multiple inequalities such as ethnicity, age, socio-economic status, disability or geographical location, further impacting women in precarious conditions and increasing their risk of social exclusion. This is a setback in social rights worldwide (UN Women).  

The INSP!R Network, present in Latin America & Caribbean, Asia, Africa and Europe, noted that women are placed in more precarious jobs, not only in terms of salary, but also in terms of working conditions, instability or violation of rights, as well as a greater probability of being employed in the informal economy.   

In 2020, only 46.9% of the world's population had access to at least one social protection benefit, and only 44.9% of mothers with new-born children had access to maternity cash benefits.  Even with women's greater vulnerability to poverty, only 23 per cent of the social protection and labour market measures adopted in response to COVID-19 are demonstrating gender sensitivity. The strain on health systems led to the disruption of essential services, including maternal health services, with an estimated 12 million women in 115 low- and middle-income countries experiencing difficulties with family planning services, resulting in 1.4 million unintended pregnancies according to UN Women (2022).  

This social crisis continues despite the economic recovery in some parts of the world, with unemployment rates and levels of poverty and extreme poverty higher than before COVID-19. The loss of employment and the reduction of labour income during the pandemic have particularly affected the lower income groups; it has also highlighted the vulnerability of a large part of the population in the medium-income groups, characterised by low levels of contributions to contributory social protection and very low coverage of non-contributory social protection.  

The high levels of informality facilitated the termination of employment relationships without compensation, for example, domestic workers found themselves in irregular situations in which they were exposed to contagion and forced to carry out tasks outside of those agreed.  Of these workers, only 25.5% were covered by or paid social security contributions. Although progress has been made in some countries with regulations governing the sector, based on ILO Convention 189, 11.2% of them are living in poverty. In addition, women's workload in the home has intensified, with data from 16 countries showing that women spent 31 hours a week on care work.  (UN Women) This increase in domestic responsibilities resulting from crisis confinement has raised the risk of a "return to the conventional" with regard to gender roles.  

Moreover, reports of violence against women and femicides increased in many parts of the world. Even before the pandemic, it was estimated that 245 million women aged 15 and over had experienced domestic, physical, sexual and workplace violence.    

In light of this, the INSP!R Network and its partners demand that:   

-Public policies should focus on the real situation of women in all spheres and put an end to the dynamics of social exclusion. If we do not broaden our vision, if we do not incorporate the gender approach in the fight against poverty and social exclusion at a time as important as the present, we will be perpetuating and reinforcing the inequality of our system. And instead of moving forward, we will be moving backwards. The current crisis cannot but be an opportunity to transform our global care system and to guarantee real access to gender responsive social protection systems.  

-Public administrations, policy makers, economic and social actors and society as a whole should promote and implement response plans to the current health, social and economic crisis that address the gendered impact of the pandemic. They should promote education for equality with the aim of eradicating the intergenerational transmission of gender inequality on which our current system is based.  

-States should orient development processes towards guaranteeing the full exercise of all human rights, including the right to social protection and labour rights for all women. This entails addressing:  

1. the indivisibility of women's rights, including sexual and reproductive rights, economic, social and cultural rights,  
2. the importance of dismantling the unjust social organisation of care, patriarchal cultural patterns and male-centred biases in economic, social and cultural systems,   
3. Promote the adoption and implementation of laws, policies, comprehensive and multisectoral action plans, international standards such as conventions 189 and 190 of the ILO to prevent, address, punish and eradicate different forms of gender-based violence and discrimination against women.  

The INSP!R Network recognises that there can be no progress and equality without women's equal rights and full participation; and there can be no gender equality without women's enjoyment of their human and labour rights, essential for women's empowerment and an equal future with the right to social protection for all.

Article: The Landscape of Social Protection Programmes in Nepal

Nabin Maharjan and Saroj Acharya from WSM partner the Social Protection Civil Society Network with Sandhya Thapa wrote an article regarding social protection schemes in Nepal.

Stimulating social protection programmes have a greater impact on the lives of people. More than 80 social protection programmes are being implemented by the Government of Nepal. The development partners, bilateral and multilateral agencies have been assisting the government for a long time however, the gap is realised in the programme integration and lack of inter-ministerial cooperation to set the results. 12 federal ministries are regulating social protection programmes through provincial and local governments. Some programmes have similar nature and might have certain duplication in beneficiaries, thus leaving the eligible ones excluded from the support. Based on the information gathered from year-wise reports of federal ministries, government line ministries, and various development partners, set the priority areas to enhance sufficient programme strategies for better social protection coverage. This article highlights the federal social protection schemes and programmes that are scattered, the status of beneficiaries, social accountability, and identifies the challenges faced by beneficiaries and the justification of the requirement on an integrated social protection framework.

Read the full article here and download the full Journal here.

AREDS Health Team resolved to ensure 100% vaccination to all eligible population in 4 Primary health centers in Karur District Tamil Nadu

Following the ravages of COVID-19 pandemic in the past two years, the present Tamil Nadu government has been undertaking vaccination programme for administering vaccine to every adult in the state. There are widespread campaigns and visual advertisements on the importance of getting vaccinated are ongoing. Despite, many of common people in the state simply ignore them because of their ignorance and misconception about vaccines. Anyway, it will be risky to leave a death-defying pathological entity prevail on the earth just because of the lack of knowledge and misunderstanding of people. 

Therefore, AREDS decided to enhance the awareness of people in its operational area in Karur district on the detrimental effect of corona pandemic. Hence, it has launched a six-month programme for assisting the government’s effort for ensuring 100 per cent vaccination in the state of Tamil nadu. Accordingly, it has selected 196 villages that come under the healthcare of four Primary Health Centres (Panjapatti, Veppangudi, Innungur and Ayyarmalai) and 19 Habitat Service Centres  in Karur district.  Totally, the programme covers 73610 people. 

The PHCs and the villages which have been chosen for the programme are located in remote areas where people have less public transport facilities.  As many of the villagers are illiterate and poor economically, they pay less attention to their health and hygiene. So, AREDS undertook a survey on the health status and on the number of people who got vaccinated and who have not yet got vaccinated in the villages chosen at the outset. Diverse surprising reasons were put forward by the people, who have not had vaccination, during the survey. Here are some of the responses from them:

1. People have several ailments already. Corona vaccine may aggravate health issues.
2. Pregnancy and childbirth: corona vaccine may terminate pregnancy. It may produce complexities during childbirth. If lactating mothers get vaccinated, it may affect the infants.
3. Habitual drunkards shun vaccination because they have to lose the pleasure of drinking.    
4. If they get ill after getting vaccinated, they cannot work and consequently farming practices will be affected.
5. People are already afflicted with TB, Asthma and diabetes. Corona vaccine may complicate the health condition further.

Stimulated by the astounding statements put forward by the villagers during survey, AREDS organized a review meeting of volunteers to find out the ways and means to dispel the fear and misapprehension of people about vaccination. In order to build a collective responsibility to eradicate the spread of pandemic, AREDS decided to involve the elected representatives of panchayats in the campaign.  

Review meeting with volunteers

In view of that, AREDS organized two meetings with the elected representatives of panchayats, one in Pappakkaapatti and the other one in Ayyarmalai. AREDS also invited the respective Block Medical Officer to the meeting.

The panchayat presidents suggested various ideas for convincing the people on the need for getting vaccinated:

1. It could be made mandatory that only those who have had vaccination can get articles from ration shops.
2. Village Administrative Officers can certify only those who have had vaccination 
3. The list of people who have not got vaccinated must be handed over to the panchayat presidents so that they could persuade them to go for vaccination.
4. Making people understand the situation is very much essential. If they are convinced, they will convince many others who they know well. 
5. The panchayat presidents suggested various ideas for convincing the people on the need for getting vaccinated:

At the end of the meeting, the panchayat presidents asked the volunteers to give them the list of people who have not got vaccinated. Presently, they have the list in their hands and they will visit them door-to-door and persuade them to go for vaccination. Hence, collective responsibility has been built to promote vaccination programme of the government. 

The Block Medical Officer of Inungur presented a brief discloser, which was an eye opener for all those who shun vaccination because of irrational beliefs, in the meeting with the elected representatives of panchayats and the volunteers of the programme: “People think that they should not consume meat if or after they get vaccinated. Many people have strong immune system to bear the effect of vaccines. Very few people suffer the effect of vaccines. Likewise, for digesting meat, the body needs much energy. Hence, it is advisable to avoid eating meat on the day people get vaccinated for avoiding double burden. There are also drunkards among those who get vaccinated. If a drunkard slips down while walking, after getting vaccinated, people blame it on vaccines definitely not on the body condition deteriorated by the consumption of alcohol. People who have health complaints already and the elderly people and pregnant women should compulsorily get vaccinated. Vaccines do not have ill effects on people and they do not aggravate the ailments that are already there in human bodies. Therefore, it is our duty to convince them by explaining the facts.”   

Presently, our volunteers, with the statistics obtained, have started motivating people by visiting them door-to-door to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Consequently, people, who have not at all had vaccination, go for the first dose of vaccination and those who have had the first dose of vaccination go for the second dose of vaccination. It gives dazzling ray of hope that we could assist the government’s effort to achieve100 per cent of vaccination in the villages that come under four PHCs and 19 HSCs.   

Now, the government has announced that children aged 15 to 18 can get dose of corona virus vaccine from 3rd of January 2022 onwards. Therefore, we could help the government’s effort to get the children vaccinated. 

Taking Collective responsibility with the government, members of grassroots governance and the civil society organizations will ensure health to all.

Launching INSP!R video and brochure

Everyone needs social protection along their life!

More than half of the world population has no access to social protection. These people are left to their own devices when they are ill, unemployed, pregnant or old. However, social protection is not a privilege, but a human right. It is also the best insurance against inequalities, poverty and exclusion.

To guarantee this right to social protection for all, close to 100 social movements mobilize across 24 countries in Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe. They join their forces in the global network INSP!R, the International Network for Social Protection Rights.

Current social protection policies leave too many people unprotected and need to be transformed, to include all working women and men in both the formal and informal economy, those in precarious employment and those unable to perform paid work.

INSP!R claims its role as a key actor for structural social changes. Our network provides a rich source of experiences and expertise, allowing us to learn from each other, strengthen our actions and develop a common strategy to enforce our social protection rights at international, continental and national level. WSM is proud to be part of this global network. Let’s discover together our presentation video and our vision.

The brochure detailing experiences and our vision can be found here. 

Nepal Social Protection Week: an opportunity to put the spotlight on social protection

Nepal celebrated its National Social Protection Week and the Social Security Day on the 27th of November, which was an excellent occasion to emphasize our recommendations and activities. This is part of the EU supported project of Public Finance Management for Social Protection Floors, implemented with the ILO and UNICEF, where WSM facilitates the involvement of civil society under the umbrella of INSP!R Nepal.

Meeting with the UN Rapporteur Olivier De Schutter

A delegation of INSP!R Nepal met with the visiting UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty, M Olivier De Schuttter on the 30th of November.  For more details on his official visit, click here.

Since M De Schutter is a strong supporter of social protection, this being one of the four priorities during this visit, we felt this would be an excellent opportunity to transmit our recommendations from civil society and trade unions, so these can be included in his official report to the Nepali government.

Based on the social charter we drafted and published last year, we updated our recommendations through ITUC-NAC and SPCSN, which are compiled here in two documents:

1. Recommendations on non-contributory SP here
2. Recommendations on contributory SP here

Over 100 stakeholders provided comments and feedback. The delegation was primarily composed out of SPCSN and the trade unions. M De Schutter listened carefully to our views and analysis related to the social protection in Nepal. Discussion topics included:

• Progress by the Nepali government in addressing key gaps in the social protection system, including access constraints, child poverty, informal workers, and data and evaluation gaps;
• Main obstacles to implement universal social protection in the context of the federalization of the country, including legal challenges brought to social insurance and devolution of social protection to lower levels of government;
• Fiscal space needed to make social protection universal;
• Main recommendations to government.

Many of our input can be found in the preliminary report of the UN Rapporteur released on the 9th of December here (social protection from page 13 onward). An extract: "The Government should ensure its skills and training programs reach the poorest families. While public works programs such as the Prime Minister’s Employment Program have considerable potential, in practice the program has yet to deliver on its promise of providing 100 days of work per person per year.

In the country, 80 percent of workers are informal, which exposes them to higher rates of abuse, largely because the Government lacks the ability to enforce minimum wage legislation in the informal sector. Although informal workers should also contribute to and benefit from the Social Security Fund, there is currently no plan to include them in the program.”

 

Local level Help desk

The Social Protection Civil Society Network (SPCSN) in coordination with our local partner Protection Nepal organized a help desk on social protection for two days in southern Nepal Kalaiya district. The objective of this helpdesk during the social protection week was to facilitate service delivery at the local level for the protection, upliftment and ensuring the rights of senior citizens, single women, people with disabilities, children, marginalized, poor and disadvantaged groups under social protection. An estimated 135 local community members were provided assistance regarding the legal provisions for social protection services.

Deputy Secretary of Kalaiya Sub-Metropolitan City Office, M Pralhad Varnawal, Officer Mustak Ansari, F Rekha Chaudhary, Section Officer, Women, Children and Senior Citizen, M Seshnath Paswan, Civil Registration and Social Protection Section, M Sunil Yadav, Account section, and M BrijMohan Kushuwaha, Chairperson, Protection Nepal and other beneficiaries took part in the inaugural ceremony.

Increasing awareness: articles published on social protection
As part of the National Social Protection week in Nepal, SPCSN ensured the publication in the national newspaper The Rising Nepal on 3 December 2021 of an article dealing with Social Protection in Nepal: Current Status & Major Concerns, written by Sandhya Thapa. The full article can be accessed here.

Other articles can be found here.

OHS as a fundamental principle and right at Work? Virtual conversations

As a follow up to the ILO 100th years Centennial Declaration on the Future of Work, the ILO has decided to proceed with the possibility to add ‘Safety and Health at work’ as fundamental principle and rights at work in the coming Labor Conference in June 2022. Find out more in our virtual conversation on “Safety and Health is a Fundamental Right at Work”, organized by INSP!R Asia (International Network for Social Protection Rights) and ACV-CSC International.

Over 50 participants from 6 countries (Bangladesh, Nepal, Cambodia, India, Indonesia and Philippines), our colleagues from Belgium attended, as well as from relevant stakeholders and networks like the ILO and ITUC-AP. These conversations were based on the publication "Safety and Health is a fundamental Right at Work" by INSP!R Asia, which can be downloaded here.

DAY 1 (Monday 25 Oct.)

Opening session

1. Bruno Deceukelier (INSP!R Asia): Welcome
2. Bismo Sanyoto (INSP!R Asia): ToR Webinar , technical announcement (interpretation English to Bahasa Indonesia), how many participants registered, ask questions
3. Bart Verstraeten, Director of WSM: Opening remarks
4. Repon Chowdury (BSPAN/ OSHE Bangladesh): OSH context in Asia

1. Session 1: Food for thought from Farmers and Fishers
1. Do farmers have the most dangerous work?  Lourthu Samy (AREDS India):
2. Troubled waters for young Fishermen - Errol Samarista Alonzo (YCW ASPAC):
3. OSH in Food industry e.g Small-scale farmers and Fishers - Visal Tan (OXFAM Asia):

1. Session 2: Values in Chains
1. Palm Oil industry- Timboel Siregar, INSP!R Indonesia
2. PRISMA Initiative and promoting HRDD in MNCs - Maria Emeninta, ACV-CSC International
2. Session 3: Do garment working conditions suit you?
1. Health Care Insurance Scheme for Bangladeshi garment  - Dr Kadir, GK Bangladesh
2. Not for the faint hearted: Garment - Ath Thorn, CLC Cambodia
3. New Accord on Fire and Safety in Bangladesh, Sara Ceustermans, Clean Clothes Campaign Flanders

DAY 2 (Tue. 26th of Oct.)

Opening

1. Bruno Deceukelier (INSP!R Asia): Welcome

2. Maria Emeninta (ACV-CSC International): About the Webinar Session 2

3. Shoya Yoshida (General Secretary ITUC AP): Opening Remarks

1. Session 4: Building workers power globally
1. Migrant Workers - Smritee Lama Tamang, GEFONT Nepal
2. Global OSH Brigades - Najrina Jalil, BWI AP Programme Officer
2. Session 5: Caring for the caregivers
1. Health Workers in COVID times- Robert Mendoza, AHW Philippines
2. Domestic Workers - Sr. Valarmathi Muthu, NDWM India
3. Who cares about the caregivers, Care Work - Fish Ip (International Domestic Workers Federation)
3. Session 6: The road ahead

1. When the road kills, public transport workers - Ajay Kumar Rai, NTUC Nepal
2. Digital Platform workers - Rekson Silaban, KSBSI Indonesia
3. Key measures to promote safety and health for workers in the informal economy, Kawakami, Tsuyoshi, Senior OSH Specialist in Delhi
4. Promoting safety and health as Fundamental Right at Work - Stijn Sintubin, ACV-CSC International

Covid-19 vaccine survey: vaccination rate among workers in Bangladesh is negligible

Bangladesh Occupational Safety Health and Environment Foundation (OSHE) conducted a rapid sample survey among 60 workers at 6 working sectors (readymade garments, leather, ship breaking, construction, waste recycling and home based work) under the district of Dhaka, Gajipur and Chittagong. It found that only 27% workers received  the COVID-19 vaccine and 73% of workers have not yet received any vaccine from the government. The survey was carried out by OSHE foundation between 15 August to 10 September 2021.  

The analysis showed that 47% workers surveyed already registered through the government designated app (Surokkha) as managed by the Department of Health, but most have been waiting for a long time to receive a date for the first dose of the vaccine. 30% workers from the survey informed that they missed to register through the Surokkha app due to lack of know-how, lack of access to internet, lack of required registration related support from concerned employer, any relevant government agency, local health service provider or community based organizations.

According to a sector wise analysis, only 3% workers in the RMG sector received COVID-19 vaccine,  5% workers in the construction sector, 3% in leather, 8% in waste recycling sector and only 7% of home based workers. 

The vaccination rate among the ship breaking sector was found to be nil. Vaccination rate among female workers was found to be only 12% of the total number of workers. None of the workers from any sector reported any infection with the corona virus while only 8% of the workers had gone for covid-19 testing at local government facilities in the past.

Nepal televises a series of debates on social protection issues

WSM partner in Nepal, the Social Protection Civil Society Network SPCSN, made a series of episodes which touch upon various aspects of social protection in Nepal. Produced through Kantipur and some also with the support of UNICEF and Save the Children, each episode lasts about 50 minutes, is in Nepali but often subtitled and can be watched through this playlist here: 

India: Model Operating Procedure for registration of Migrant and Unorganized Workers in National Database

The Working People's Charter, which involves some of the WSM partners  in India, has drafted this statement related to the standard operating procedures to register unorganized or migrant workers in a database for the e-shram portal and social protection schemes. 

Context

In the Suo Moto Writ Petition (Civil) No.6 of 2020 with Writ Petition (C) No. 916 of 2020 the Supreme Court gave the following direction on 29th June 2021 with respect to registration of unorganized workers:

“Central Government to develop the Portal in consultation with National Informatics Centre (NIC) for registration of the unorganized labourers/migrant workers. We also impress upon and direct that the Central Government as well as the respective States and the Union Territories to complete the process of Portal for registration under National Data Base for Unorganised Workers (NDUW Project) as well as implement the same, which by all means may commence not later than 31.07.2021. We also impress upon and direct that the process of registration of the unorganized labourers/migrant workers is completed at the earliest, but not later than 31.12.2021. All the concerned States/Union Territories and the Licence Holders/Contractors and others to cooperate with the Central Government to complete the process of registration of migrant workers and unorganized labourers so that the benefits of the welfare schemes declared by the Central Government/State Governments/ Union Territories be available to migrant workers and unorganized labourers for whose benefits the welfare schemes are declared”

It has been more than two months since this direction was given to the Central and State Government. Information regarding the concerned Government’s action plan to comply with the direction as per the time frame mentioned is not available in the public domain. We are aware of sporadic measures like surveys being conducted for instance by the Government of Delhi, but are not informed of the larger framework of implementation within which State led initiatives are being undertaken.

At present, there is no centralized national database of unorganized workers in India, in spite of enabling legal mandates under the Unorganized Workers Social Security Act 2008. A collective of worker groups, civil society organizations and academics who have worked extensively towards issues of labour rights have taken the initiative to build a “Model SOP” for registration of workers, which if implemented can ensure that the Government complies with the orders of the Supreme Court. The model SOP can be used by civil society groups, in individual and collective advocacy efforts, to push the Government at the Centre and State level to honour the directions of the Supreme Court in letter and spirit. SAFAR and Working Peoples’ Charter intend to prepare such a SOP by consulting and taking inputs from a range of trade unions, worker groups, campaigns, networks, activists, academics and subject matter specialists such that the contents of the SOP reflect collective priorities through a democratic and participatory manner. The basic objectives of this SOP are to empower unorganized workers, the Central Government and the State Government in India through following:

1. Creation of a portable national database of all unorganized workers in India which will facilitate their unhindered access to multiple social security benefits
2. Provide a unique registration number for each unorganized worker in India, so that she/he can claim and access entitlements, services and benefits from any place in the country 
3. Link potential employers with the unorganized workers

Introduction 

The Indian economy is broadly divided into organised and unorganized sectors and with growth of economy, the organized sector is stagnant (in fact formal employment is shrinking) and unorganized sector is expanding or informal employment is increasing. Out of the estimated workforce of 474 millions, 17 percent (about 82 million) is employed in organized sector and 83 percent (about 392 million) is employed in unorganized sector. In general unorganized is informal also but about 55 percent of the workers in organized sector are also employed informally. In total about 92 percent of the total workers are engaged in the informal employment and majority of them have low earning and without any social protection. Out of the total informally employed workforce - 56 percent are self employed, 11 percent are regular salary wage earners and 33 percent are casual workers seeking employment on daily basis. (It is from 68 NSSO round, but have to check recent one)

The unorganized sector makes a significant contribution to the national wealth, yet workers in this sector do not have access to sufficient and reliable social security. These workers adopt informal strategies which are very expensive and their continued dependence on such strategies only rendered them more vulnerable. A vast majority of them do not have a fixed employer. There is a poor employer-employee relationship. With the enactment of the Unorganized Workers Social Security Act 2008, The Government of India has created a right based legal framework for providing social security benefits to the unorganized workers. According to section 10(1) of the Unorganized Workers Social Security Act 2008, it mentions that every unorganized worker shall be eligible for registration subject to the fulfillment of the conditions. 

Definition of Unorganised Workers

As per the Unorganised Worker Social Security Act 2008 a worker should be recognized as an unorganised worker if he/she fulfills any or all of the following definitions:

• Self-employed worker (full time/part time) 
• Wage worker- who does not get covered under social security net as per Unorganised worker Social Security Act (full time/part time) 
• In case a worker is covered either in EPFO, ESIC or any other four acts as mentioned in schedule II of the Act, he/she is not an unorganized worker.
• 18 years-age till the person receives pension

Minimum principles to govern the process of registration of workers: 

Self-declared information shared by workers has to be treated as true, unless proven wrong. Onus of proving veracity of information is on the State, and not on the individual worker. 

Recognizing that, despite best efforts, the modes of registration can be corrupted or blocked, multiple modes (online and offline) and routes (multiple spatial access points) must be provided by the State in order to make it progressively difficult to inhibit attempts made by workers to register in a free and fair manner. Additionally, the state must make efforts to reach the worker more than expect the worker to come to it through organizing registration camps, door-step registration services etc. 

Workers who have been registered on existing government portals / lists should not be asked to re-register themselves. Their inclusion in the NDUW should be automatic. In such a case of an auto-enrollment, worker’s unique registration number should be communicated to the worker by SMS on the given phone number and the worker’s registration card should be sent by post to the address in the database. However, if a person who is registered on any of the portals or lists appear at the registration desk, s/he should not be denied registration. An acknowledgement receipt with the ID, list from which the name has been pulled, and status (active / inactive / pending for renewal etc.) should be given along with the physical copy of worker’s registration ID card. 

Workers who have any state approved ID/private document proving authenticity of information being states, have the option of submitting the same at the time of registration. However, no document beyond self-declaration will be required from workers in order to register themselves on the NDUW. A worker wishing to register himself/herself shall not be required to give any proof or any other personal details except those that may be necessary for contacting him/her. 

It shall be the responsibility of the State/Central Government to take pro-active steps to reach the worker and facilitate him/her through the process of registration and other incidental activities, instead of relying on the worker to contact the State/Central Government 

Transparency of information to workers – The Government must put in place mechanisms through which the workers are made fully aware about all the information regarding the registration process like know what registering to this database means, what benefits it will give them, and who will have access to the information to name a few. 

Principle of portability - all workers can register anywhere, get info anywhere, access a center anywhere – no “home state” for registration – Benefits and coverage that follow from the ID must be accessible anywhere in India and should be designed that way.

Inclusion of worker organisation including trade union and voluntary organisations engaging with unorganized sector should be rope in for registration and awareness drive.  

Process of registration

As mandated under Section 9 of the Unorganized Workers Social Security Act, 2008 the State Government shall set up ‘Worker Facilitation Centres’ at the Gram Panchayat and Ward level to facilitate the filling, processing and forwarding of application forms for registration of unorganized workers

In addition to the Worker Facilitation Centres at the Gram Panchayat and/or Ward Level, the State Government should ensure access of workers to multiple modes of registration. Workers/Employers/Trade Union or any worker organisations working in the unorganized sector on behalf of workers should also be able to register through the following ways:

• Labour Offices 
• Helpline (govt and non govt run both)
• Web Portal
• Ration Dealer/ Post Office / Government Schools / Anganwadis / PHCs / Railway Stations / Metro Stations / Bus Stations / Booth Level Workers 
• CSC network 
• Gram Panchayat and Municipal Corporation

Govt may charge nominal fee @Rs 20 or less for the process of registration 

The process of registration will be ongoing through the year. There will be no cut-off date beyond which workers cannot register themselves 

Registration of workers will be renewed automatically, unless workers report a change in parameters by themselves

All those who register themselves on the NDUW will be provided with a dated acknowledgement slip at the time of registration which will contain the following details:

1. Name of applicant for registration 
2. Date on which application for registration being submitted 
3. Location where application for registration being submitted 
4. Unique ID of the Application 
5. Name, designation and contact details of the functionary who has received the application for registration 
6. Date by when the worker will receive the ID card 
7. Details of how the worker can file a grievance as per provisions of Section 7
8. The dated acknowledgement slip should contain the following information at an appropriate location
9. No documents will have to be submitted by the worker at the time of registration 
10. The time period should be prescribed - which should not be more than two weeks. 
11. The dated acknowledgement slip provided to the worker at the time of registration should be considered as the registration ID until the worker is provided with the latter.

Workers will be provided with an ID Card within 15 days of submitting an application for registration which will include a unique registration number of a worker. Until this is provided, as stated above, the dated acknowledgement slip provided to the worker at the time of registration shall be considered as the unique registration ID of the worker.

The Central and State Government will access the database of workers registered under existing portals, and add the same to the National Database for Unorganized Workers. Workers registered under existing schemes/programmes will not be required to re-register on the National Database once again. If there is additional information that ought to be collected from Workers registered under existing schemes/programmes, it will be the responsibility of the concerned Gram Panchayat / Municipal Corporation to update the same. 

The State Government may consider deploying the Nehru Yuva Kendra Cadre, National Social Service Cadre, National Cadet Corps to assist with registration, given Labour Departments across the country are understaffed. Additionally, the State Governments should actively involve worker organizations, empanel unions, federations, and labour collectives working in the State for the registration process. 

Functions/Fields for registration of unorganized workers

• Full Name of the worker (Mandatory) 
• Date of Birth (Mandatory) 
• Age (Mandatory) 
• Permanent address (Mandatory) 
• Current address (Mandatory) 
• Mobile Number (Mandatory) 
• Gender (Mandatory. Male/Female/Transgender/Other) 
• List of main occupations (Mandatory) (Annexure 1) 
• Marital status (Not Mandatory) 
• Is HOF(Head of Family)
• Caste Category( SC/ST/OBC/General) (Non Mandatory) 
• Aadhaar Number (Non-Mandatory) 
• Email id (Non- Mandatory)
• Bank account number (Non-Mandatory) 
• Bank IFSC Code (Non-Mandatory) 
• Bank type (Non-Mandatory) 
• Person with Disability (PwD) (Yes/No) (Non-Mandatory) 
• Percentage of disability if disabled (Non-Mandatory) 
• Disability type if disable (Seeing, Hearing, Speech, Movement, Mental Retardation, Mental Illness, Other disability, Multiple disability) (Non-Mandatory) 
• BPL Category (Yes/No) (Non-Mandatory) 
• Ration card number (Non-Mandatory)

Workers who have any state approved ID/private document proving authenticity of information being states, have the option of submitting the same at the time of registration. However, no document beyond self-declaration will be mandatorily required from workers in order to register themselves on the NDUW. A worker wishing to register himself/herself shall not be required to give any proof or any other personal details except those that may be necessary for contacting him/her. 

Automatic inclusion list and exclusion list

Workers registered under different schemes and boards will be automatically included in the NDUW with a unique identifier indicating that their details have been ported directly from other databases. At the time of distribution of material benefits to workers registered on the NDUW, the unique identifier will ensure that workers registered under different schemes and boards do not receive double benefits.

• Time-bound redress of grievances faced by workers in the process of registration and other issues
• The Booth Level Officer (BLO) will be appointed as the Grievance Redress Officer in their respective jurisdictions.
• The name and contact details of the concerned BLO will be proactively disclosed at Worker Facilitation Centres and all physical locations at which registration of workers is taking places in a prominent fashion.
• Workers facing any grievance in the process of registration will be able to file a complaint with the Booth Level Officer in writing, or through calls, SMS and web portals dedicated for the purpose of receiving and directing grievances to the appropriate BLO

All grievances received by the BLO in writing or through calls, SMS and web portals will be acknowledged with a dated acknowledgement slip which will contain the following details:

• Name of complainant 
• Date on which complaint filed 
• Description of complaint 
• Location of complaint 
• Time frame within which the complaint should be redressed 
• Name, designation and contact details of the BLO who has received the complaint

All grievances filed by workers will be responded to and redressed within 15 days of the grievance being filed. 

Transparency

All information collected and generated in the process of registration of workers under the NDUW will be publicly disclosed as per Section 4, RTI Act through a real time, transaction-based Worker Information System (WIS) set up for the purpose.

Applicants will be able to track the status of their application for registration, look up their registration number, download a registration certificate as many times, request an SMS with the registration information etc. through the WIS. In addition to these, wall painting should also be carried out in Panchayats and Ward offices in Municipalities by putting out the name of people who are registered.

All registered workers will be provided with a physical Registration ID Card, that will be provided at their current physical address. Workers should also have an option to download the Registration ID Card from the WIS anytime, anywhere by providing their registered phone number and unique registration number. The Registration ID Card provided to the worker physically, and the Card downloaded through the WIS will be treated equal in terms of sanctity. The Registration ID Card will contain the following details: 

1. Name of worker 
2. Unique Registration ID Number 
3. Date of registration 
4. Details of benefits provided to the worker 

Employment categories of Unorganized Workers 

1.  Agarbatti making
2.  Agriculture
3.  Agriculture machinery handling
4.  Animal Husbandry
5.  Arrack and liquor production and vending
6.  Automobile work
7.  Bakery work
8.  Band playing
9.  Bangle manufacturing
10.Beads making / piercing
11. Beautician
12. Beedi manufacture
13. Bicycle repair
14. Bindi work
15. Blacksmithy
16. Boat/Ferry occupation
17. Book binding
18. Brick kiln work
19. Brush making
20. Breweries Distilleries
21. Building and road maintenance
22. Bulb Manufacturing
23. Bullock/Camel-cart operation
24. Butchery
25. Cable TV operation
26. Cane/Reed work
27. Carpentry
28. Carpet weaving
29. Cashew processing
30. Catering
31. Chikan work
32. Cine service
33. Cloth printing
34. Clubs and canteen services
35. Coaching services
36. Coir processing/manufacture
37. Confectionery
38. Construction work
39. Construction of tents and pedals supply of utensils and decoration for function
40. Courier service
41. Dairying and allied activities
42. Data entry operations
43. Distribution of petroleum products
44. Domestic work
45. Dyeing
46. Electronic, electrical goods repairs
47. Electroplating
48. Embroidery work
49. Envelope making
50. Firework cracker production
51. Fishery production
52. Fish processing
53. Flora work and garland making
54. Flour mills operations
55. Footwear production
56. Forestry operation
57. Foundry
58. Gardening and parks maintenance
59. Garment manufacture
60. Gems cutting
61. Ginning
62. GIG/Platform Economy 
62. Glassware manufacturing
63. Goldsmithy
64. Hairdressing
65. Handloom weaving
66. Hawking and vending
67. Headload work
68. Health service
69. Honey gathering
70. Horticulture and floriculture
71. Hotel and restaurant service
72. Lock making
73. Manual operation of unspecified jobs
74. Masala making
75. Matches manufacture
76. Minor forest produce gathering
77. Minor mineral and mines work
78. Newspaper vending
79. NGO services
80. Oil extraction 
81. Packing and packaging
82. Panwalla services
83. Pappad making
84. Petrol bunk/pump and allied services
85. Pickle making
86. Plantation
87. Plastic manufacture
88. Pottery
89. Powerloom weaving
90. Printing press work
91. Quary work
92. Rag picking
93. Rice Milling
94. Rickshaw pulling
95. Salt pan work
96. Sand mining
97. Sawmill work
98. Scavenging
99. Security services
100. Sericulture (Silk rearing)
101. Service station work
102. Shepherding
103. Shoe shining work
104. Shop and establishment work
105. Small-scale industries
106. Soap manufacture
107. Sports good manufacturer
108. Steel vessels and utensils manufacture 
109. Stone crushing
110. Tanning(including hides and skin production) leather goods manufacture
111. Telephone booth service
112. Sweeping
113. Temple leaves collection
114. Tendu leaves collection
115. Timber industry(Furniture manufacture)
116. Tobacco processing
117. Toddy tapping
118. Toy making
119. Transport service(driving, conducting, cleaning) etc.
120. Laundry work
121. Wayside mechanics and workshop service
122. Welding
123. Any other occupation that is not listed above, but the worker declares as his/her occupation. This occupation will be periodically added to the above list. 

These employment categories in the unorganized workers are a suggestive list and should not be limited to just these. Additionally, if any new category emerges through workers’ response during the time of registration under 123, it should become a new category on the WIS too. Workers must be allowed to choose any number of categories of works at the time of registration and should not be restricted to choose a fixed number.

NGO signatories to Bangladesh Accord welcome historic new binding worker safety agreement

Today, apparel brands and labour unions announced agreement on a new International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry, thereby preserving, extending, and expanding the model pioneered by the Bangladesh Accord for protecting worker safety. The non-governmental organization signatories (known as witness signatories) to the Bangladesh Accord – Clean Clothes Campaign, Worker Rights Consortium, Maquila Solidarity Network, and Global Labor Justice-International Labor Rights Forum – issued the following statement:

We welcome, and look forward to signing, this new international safety agreement, which maintains the vital elements of the ground-breaking model established by the Bangladesh Accord: legal enforceability of brands’ commitments, independent oversight of brand compliance, the obligation to pay prices to suppliers sufficient to support safe workplaces, and the obligation to cease doing business with any factory that refuses to operate safely. The successful outcome of negotiations this summer will ensure that the sweeping safety gains the Accord has delivered in Bangladesh will be maintained and extended.

This model, which has saved countless lives in Bangladesh, will also now be expanded to other countries where workers’ lives remain daily at risk. Eight years since the inception of the original Accord, the new International Accord takes the important and overdue step to expand its coverage beyond Bangladesh. It is vital that this process will be taken on swiftly and unreservedly for the benefit of textile and garment workers who have called for better safety measures for many years.

Under the new agreement, the continuation of the progress on fire and building safety achieved in Bangladesh over the past eight years, and the expansion of the programme beyond Bangladesh, will be ensured through the work of the Accord Secretariat, a fully independent oversight body with the authority to verify and enforce brand compliance. Importantly, only brands that are willing to sign the new enforceable agreement will be able to avail themselves of inspections and other services in Bangladesh, ensuring a level playing field without double standards.

Every responsible apparel and textile brand – every brand that places any value on the lives of the workers who sew its clothes – will sign this new agreement. It is especially important that brands and retailers that failed to sign the original Accord sign this one. These brands have consciously chosen to risk the lives of the workers in their contract factories; their recklessness must now end.

We congratulate the hundreds of trade unions, civil society organizations, parliamentarians, and governments around the world that have advocated this year for the continuation of the Accord. Their efforts were instrumental in getting this good outcome. We must now turn our attention to ensuring that every brand that sources clothing from high-risk countries, in South Asia and beyond, signs the new International Safety Accord. A list of companies that have signed on to the agreement, that started to work on 1 September 2021, can be found here. All of the brands that have not yet signed the Accord continue to put workers' lives at risk and we urge them to sign on as soon as possible.

"In several factories where a major disaster happened in the past 10 years, the factory had just been inspected by a private audit company. Audits can be a (small) part of the solution, but they have been used for too long as a miracle solution. And they are certainly no alternative to public inspections and laws."  Sara Ceustermans from the Flemish Clean Clothes Campaign. 

More from her in this interview in De Knack here (in Dutch).

Lessons learned from India 2nd wave of COVID-19

Daily cases of Covid-19 and death keep on hitting a new global record as more than 400.000 new cases reported daily adding to the total number of infections to more than 20 million peoples. Positivity rate stays between 18-20 percent. At least 1 out of every 3 new cases around the world is being recorded in India. India recorded its deadliest day of the Covid-19 pandemic with more than 4.000 deaths a day, adding to the more than 215.000 people’s dead. Some city’s crematorium overflowed with dead bodies. Parking lots and open spaces have been changed into makeshift crematorium working for 24 hours a day. According to Reuters, 1 person is dying of Covid-19 every 5 minutes in India. The WHO describes the situation as ‘beyond heartbreaking’. 

People have been left to die outside of the hospital they cannot get into, due to lack of beds and facilities. Hospitals around India are reporting dying patients because of oxygen shortages. Few incidents happened; oxygen tanks leaked, and fire broke out in a hospital ward. Doctors and health workers are exhausted, overwhelmed by sudden increase of patients. They are having traumatic experiences as they must make life and death decision and turn away patient in the fact that people are dying who could otherwise be safe. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) reported that 747 doctors have died of Covid-19, the highest number were from Tamil Nadu (89 deaths), West Bengal (80 deaths) and Maharashtra (74 deaths). Healthcare workers are over-worked not only during their working time at the hospitals but also supervising many patients that stay at home without proper medical supplies. Healthcare systems are on the brink of collapse.

India’s swift decision to have two-months-long national lock-down to contain the first wave has sparked a huge exodus of millions of migrant workers who headed home to their villages and put about 100 million people out of work in a matter of days. As an impact, about 230 million Indians fell into poverty with women and children bear most of the brunt. After the first wave, the government was relaxing health protocol and allowing sport-social-religious gathering turn into ‘super-spreader events.’ Thousands or millions of peoples allowed to have gathered in one place without social distancing and mask-wearing. The impact of that decision is devastating. 

The government of India ignored warnings from the Indian SARS-COV-2 Genetics Consortium (INSACOG) about the new variant of B.1.617 first detected in early March 2021. Different with the first wave, this time India is faced with a ‘double mutation’ variant of the Covid-19 which is attacking younger populations with severe infections. There are growing fears about the spread of infections to rural areas where health infrastructure is limited or not exist. In the countryside, people die at home without medical attention and these deaths are vastly unreported. The second wave of Covid-19 crisis is expected to add 75 million people more to poverty with incomes of less than 2 USD a day. 

As the health system becomes inaccessible, people desperately turn to social media searching for oxygen, ventilators, plasma donations and medical supplies for their loves one to survive. Civil society turns into activists by helping each other through sharing information on social media, verifying news, providing oxygen, medical supplies, and food for free. However, criticism on how the government is handling the crisis is not permitted on social media. Unsurprisingly, the social media companies like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram have been requested to remove all posts criticizing the Government of India. For these social media companies, access to the huge India’ market with 400 million users is more important than the rights of the Indian people for free speech. 

The response of various Indian states to Covid-19 will differ as the poorest states have the weakest capacity to deliver health services. Some states will be in far worse shape than others. Maharashtra state is one of the states that has been hit hardest by Covid-19. Over 17.975 health workers have been infected with Covid-19, and 175 have died. According to experts, there are several reasons why Maharashtra recorded the highest number of cases. First, Maharashtra state has the 2nd biggest population in India. Secondly, Maharashtra has more densely populated cities caused by urbanization, like Bombay, the Nation’s financial hub. Third, the new variant of B.1.617 was first detected in early March 2021 in Maharashtra. Fourth, Maharashtra has relatively better Covid-19 recorded tests than other states. Fifth, after the first wave, the government allowed ‘super-spreader events’ where thousands or even millions of peoples participating without respecting health protocols. And lastly, the vaccine roll-out is slow across India. 

When it comes to vaccine, India is a paradox. Serum Institute of India is the world largest vaccine manufacturing and produces half of the world’s vaccines. Now, the Serum Institute is struggling to meet even the demands of its home country. Nearly 10% of Indians have received one dose, and only 2% have received both. This is happening because India is depending on the United States to obtain raw materials needed for manufacturing vaccine. ‘America first’ policy of the US is prioritizing the use of raw materials for producing vaccines for their own peoples. The Serum Institute had promised to supply COVAX with 1,1 billion vaccines doses. Unfortunately, the Serum Institute could only deliver 19,6 million vaccines doses to COVAX before it stopped in February 2021 as they also prioritize India’s domestic needs.   

The world has seen a moral deficit as Covid-19 Vaccine are being rolled out. Approximately 216 million peoples have been vaccinated against Covid-19 globally, but only 8,4% of these are in low and lower-middle-income countries. Wealthy nations have failed to prevent this tragedy happening in India and failed to contain the spread of global pandemic as they are almost exclusively prioritizing their own vaccinations and pile up stocking of vaccines for their own populations. Lower-middle income and poor countries are depending on World Health Organization initiative of COVAX vaccines which mainly come from India’ Serum Institute. Indirectly the wealthy nations are raising vaccine prices and squeezing lower-income countries out of vaccination race. For example, South Africa paid double what the European Union did for the AstraZeneca vaccine. If this trend continues, we will see vulnerable people in poorer countries continue to die needlessly.

This ‘vaccine nationalism’ is a very bad policy as it is self-defeating while it opens the possibility of new more-life-threatening variants of Covid-19 mutation to emerge somewhere in a poorer country. It is very risky to rely on production of vaccine from only a few manufacturers to supply vaccine to the rest of the world when cases of pandemic occur. Therefore, we welcomed the support of US and EU to waive the vaccine intellectual property (IP) rights proposed by the government of India and South Africa. It would allow other countries with the manufacturing capacity to produce and scale up production of Covid-19 vaccines. We expect there is not even one country among the 164 members of WTO which will vote against a waiver, because then that initiative would fail.

Patent waiving of IP Rights is just a first step. The fact is producing and distributing vaccine is complicated and takes time. We basically cannot wait for months or years before those patent waivers give impact for boosting global vaccine productions. What we need urgently is boosting production capacity of existing manufacturers and reducing restrictions on the export of vaccine and raw materials to make them. Equitable access to vaccines for all people and a global vaccination strategy will lead to global herd immunity. 

As the crisis deepened, international aid is coming from around the world, sending vaccine, oxygen, medicines, diagnostic tests, protective gears, etc. It is helpful, but too little, too late. It is becoming clear that what happened in India is not only catastrophic to India, but also to the rest of the world. As distribution of vaccine being halted, we will be expecting outbreaks to happen soon in other countries. Imagine if the virus reached a state like Myanmar. This country has a very poor health system affected by years of armed conflict and violence. With 1.600 km porous border, thousands of internally displaced persons and political refugees from Chin state of Myanmar flee and seek safe havens in the Mizoram and Manipur districts of India. 

What is already obvious is the spill-over of the virus to Nepal. Six provinces of Nepal share a porous border of about 1.850 km with 5 states of India, mainly Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. An estimated 6 million Nepalese live and work in India. With sudden increase of cases up to 9.000 a day, the fragile health system of Nepal is on the brink to collapse. 2 out of 5 people tested now return positive. More than 3.500 peoples have died, and 400 of them in the past 2 weeks alone. Nepal is just two weeks behind India towards similar catastrophe. Closing the borders is too little too late, as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are also reporting spikes of cases. Very soon the center of global Covid-19 cases will move to South Asia. 

Along with the raise of cases in India, more and more countries decided to close its border for peoples coming from India. Discrimination against Indian peoples is increasing in many countries. The government of Australia has taken disproportionate and very punitive laws, which criminalize their own citizens coming or returning home from India. This policy is obviously racists against India-Australians people and civil society organizations should pressure the government of Australia to immediately withdraw this policy.

The worst has yet to come for India. India urgently needs to provide oxygen for patients, roll out vaccines, build temporary hospitals, isolation center and vaccine centers in a short period of time, while providing proper personal protective equipment and safe environment for health workers. People must know that the current vaccine should be seen as preventive measures rather than treatment, which means that those people who were vaccinated can still be infected by the virus and infect others. Research at this point only demonstrated that the vaccine alleviates the symptoms, which is already a huge step forward. Scientist do not know yet for how long the current vaccines will maintain antibody immune system against Covid-19. Therefore, people must respect and implement health protocols everywhere, anytime. Hopefully, anti-viral medicine and booster vaccines that can anticipate new variants and serve to stimulate the immune system to recognize a new variant in a longer lasting period can be developed.

Health has never been a major issue in the general election in India. However, the Covid-19 pandemic should change this . It is now time to raise health care as a prominent campaign. Healthcare spending in India remains just a little over 1% of the Gross Domestic Product, as opposed to the National health Policy which stipulates 2,5%. The budgetary allocation on healthcare as percentage share of the total budget remains at 1,98%. It is the responsibility of the government to ensure the health of the people by providing universal quality healthcare which is accessible and affordable. We should make sure that government manifesto regarding health do not end up mere rhetoric and window dressing. The government must involve people in policy development of the healthcare system, its monitoring and evaluation, because health has always been the primary concern of people. All people have equal rights to universal quality healthcare. 

The longer the virus can spread rampant in India, the more people it will infect and the more likely it is that further mutations will emerge. Many people do not yet realize the severity of what lies ahead. What happens in India is vital to what will happen next to the world. While the UK variant was detected in January in the northern state of Punjab, the Indian variant B.1.617 has now reached at least 17 countries. The battle against Covid-19 seems to be a long one. The India case is an alarming reminder of how the virus can spike when precautions are lifted and health protocol ignored. Unless we keep being cautious and learn from experiences like the one from India, we cannot win this battle.