Page 68 - MWG-011_Neat

Shrichakradhar.com 65
is not easy to correct the unequal distribution of resources. By logic, social protection measures
become an important tool for reducing the severity of poverty to a large extent.
According to Norton, Conway and Foster (2001) social protection is argued to be necessary in order
to:
• develop social support for reform programmes;
• promote social justice and equity and make growth more efficient and equitable;
• provide policy-led support to those outside the labor market with insufficient assets to achieve
a secure livelihood;
• provide protection for all citizens against risk including financial crises;
• ensure basic acceptable livelihood standards for all;
• facilitate investment in human capital for poor households and communities;
• enable people to take economic risks to pursue livelihoods;
• promote social cohesion and social solidarity (social stability);
• compensate for declining effectiveness of traditional and informal systems for enhancing
livelihood security; and
• Ensure continuity of access for all to the basic services necessary for developing human capital
and meeting basic needs.

Q2. Explain the historical development of social protection in India, its providers and
types.
Ans. Parental responsibility as a value of joint family system was of paramount importance in
protecting all family members. Authors have referred to many social mechanisms developed to protect
the people from adversities and provide decent livelihoods to persons. State was also actively involved
in securing the lives and livelihoods of its citizens in the ancient India as indicated in ‘Arthashastra’,
Chanakya’s treatise on finance, politics and public administration written in the fourth century B.C.
Chanakya’s proposed ideas on public welfare such as, the king was required to maintain social order,
promote economic activities, protect weaker sections of the society, prevent their harassment, protect
the consumers, take care of aged people, children and women, as well as slaves and prisoners. The
Arthashastra also contains extensive famine relief measures, such as public distribution of food grains
and seeds at concessional rates, initiating public works and providing food as wages.
Bhattacharya (1970) writes that Shukraneetees, Shukracharya’s treatise on justice, written in the
eighth century A.D., discusses systems of social protection, including old age, sick and maintenance
allowance to helpers (servants), and allowance to families of servants for their premature deaths. Very
little information is available about the State’s role towards general welfare of the people during
mediaeval periods. Such role is found increasingly performed by the religious organizations, charities,
trusts, caste associations and the village communities during Mughal rule and post-Mughal
period.(Kannan and Pillai, 2007) During the colonial period, the government initiated famine relief
measures that were successful in reducing mortality and frequency of famines. As a result, no major
famine was encountered between 1902 and 1943 in the country. The last major famine that affected
Bengal also encouraged the government to control the trade in food grains and expand the urban
public distribution system. During the struggles for independence, reduction of large-scale poverty
and inequality was an objective, within the overarching aim of achieving independence.
The government of newly-independent India initiated several social protection programmes, which
were further scaled up. New programmes were initiated in the late 1960s and early 1970s in response
to various natural calamities, droughts and food shortages during that period. In the latter half of
1990s, when it was realized that the gains from economic reforms and increased globalization of
Indian economy were largely bypassing a major section of the society, social protection policy was
again brought to the fore. The design and implementation of social protection programmes is also
strongly associated with the decentralization of government through the creation of Panchayati raj
(village government) institutions 1993. Subsequent to the 2004 general elections, the new Central
Government decided to work towards a ‘growth with a human face’, strengthening and enhancing
various social protection programmes and launching new programmes such as the National Rural
Employment Guarantee Programmer (NREGP).
Providers of social protection: Traditionally, the State is the provider of last resort. It may take
on a limited responsibility, such as offering protection at the time of contingency or assume broader
responsibilities, including direct and indirect action on poverty by way of providing aid and benefits.
The concept of a welfare state, such as in India, usually incorporates some form of social security as a
constitutionally-protected right and an inalienable component of citizenship and a prescription to the
State to redistribute wealth and help those in need. However, welfare states vary greatly in the extent
of responsibility they assume for social protection. For example, the United States of America takes
responsibility for general welfare in a targeted manner only when the market and/or family fails,