 |
|
A
substantial proportion of the Sri Lankan labour force is
made up of self-employed persons and workers engaged in
the informal sector. According to the Labour Force Survey
data, 27 per cent of the labour force in Sri Lanka comprise
own account workers (Central Bank Annual Report, 2001),
which is the next largest segment of workers in the country,
after the private sector employees who account for the largest
occupational category (48 per cent). The contribution the
self-employed persons and the informal sector employees
make towards the economy of the country and to the community
at large is extensive and significant. Yet, it is doubtful
if they are sufficiently rewarded or compensated in terms
of economic and social benefits that the other occupational
categories enjoy for the services they provide, particularly
those employed in the formal sector. Of all the benefits
that the formal sector employees receive, the provision
of a retirement income security to lean on in their old
age could be cited as the most important reward granted
to them by way of pension and social security systems already
in existence.
Unfortunately, this is not so in the case
of the majority of the informal sector workers and the self-employed
persons. For the most part, they are left to fend for themselves
even when incapacitated by age and by life contingencies
of disability. Many of them are left without any source
of income of their own to fall back on and are forced to
rely on the quantum of the family support. As such, many
of them are faced with a bleak future in the twilight years
of their lives. It is evident that very little thought has
been given in this regard. It is also obvious that all of
those retirement provision systems that are already in operation
have so far failed to incorporate this category.
The recognition of the importance of this
much-neglected issue of social security provision for the
employees in the informal sector was first given force with
the initiation of the Farmers’ Pension and Social
Security Benefit Scheme in 1987. Since then, the Government
of Sri Lanka has taken steps to further expand this facility
to other informal sector workers by introducing other similar
schemes. As a result, the Fishermen’s Pension and
Social Security Benefit Scheme was introduced few years
later in 1990. Third, in furtherance to this attempt, the
Pension and Social Security Benefit Scheme for Self-Employed
Persons was set up in 1996.
Table of Contents:
- Executive Summary
- Introduction
- Establishment and Organization of Pension and Social
Security Benefit Scheme for Self-Employed in Sri Lanka
- Assessment of ability of Social Security Scheme to
provide social security to its target population
- Policy Options and Implications
- Bibliography
|
|
