Reorganizing existing schemes and providing universal social security is of utmost importance for overall development. Discuss (200 Words)
Refer - The Hindu
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 3 years
KEY POINTS
· India is one of the largest welfare states in the world and yet, with COVID-19 striking in 2020, the state failed to provide for its most vulnerable citizens.
· The country has over 500 direct benefit transfer schemes for which various Central, State, and Line departments are responsible.
· However, these schemes have not reached those in need. The pandemic has revealed that leveraging our existing schemes and providing universal social security is of utmost importance.
· Universal healthcare programme that India ran successfully — the Pulse Polio Universal Immunisation Programme. In 2014, India was declared polio-free. It took a dedicated effort over a number of years.
· Existing schemes cover a wide variety of social protections. However, they are fractionalised across various departments and sub-schemes.
· This causes problems beginning with data collection to last-mile delivery. Having a universal system would improve the ease of application by consolidating the data of all eligible beneficiaries under one database.
· The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) is one scheme that can be strengthened into universal social security.
· It already consolidates the public distribution system (PDS), the provision of gas cylinders, and wages for the MGNREGS.
· Having a universal scheme would take away this access/exclusion barrier. For example, PDS can be linked to a universal identification card such as the Aadhaar or voter card, in the absence of a ration card.
