PM to woo voters with welfare plan
NEWDELHI: PRIME Minister Narendra Modi is set to extend a welfare programme to 500 million workers ahead of the 2019 general elections, but has limited time and resources to implement the plan.
Modi aims to initially provide three programmes — old age pension, life insurance, and maternity benefits, while leaving out unemployment and child support — to most working citizens, officials said, asking not to be identified as discussions are private.
While it could translate into significant political gains to offset the challenges he faces in the lead up to the polls, it is likely to add pressure on India’s fiscal deficit, already one of the widest in Asia.
The government has drafted a bill to extend benefits to all workers, including those in informal employment, by merging and simplifying 15 federal labour laws into one.
It plans to present the bill in July in the upcoming session of Parliament, labour minister Santosh Gangwar told Bloomberg News, while remaining non-committal on a full-fledged roll-out before the general elections.
The plan comes after the February announcement of a health protection plan targeted to cover 100 million poor families.
The Centre plans to pilot the project in six districts in the months leading up to the polls in May next year, the officials said. “Nobody can deny the importance of social security for the country’s working class and it is overdue,” said Satish Misra, a political analyst at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.