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About 91% of India's workforce of 520 million is informal, lacking social insurance. However, this paper finds the Social Security Code 2020 wanting, but with potential for universalizing social insurance. The paper spells out the principles that should guide social insurance for informal workers; and presents the design and architecture for extending coverage. It shows how realistically, over the next 10–15 years, social insurance could cover the entire workforce, in accordance with ILO Conventions. It also estimates the fiscal cost of social insurance, for the first five years, and spells out the political economy, fiscal and administrative challenges to universalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the structural reasons why the poor, and especially children, are impacted adversely as a result of the global economic crisis and presents policy concerns that governments must address to meet the income and livelihood needs of the poor. It analyzes the status of employment in the informal sector, which accounts for a significant share of total employment outside of agriculture, and in which the vulnerabilities of the poor are very high. It also analyzes the extent to which those outside the formal sector have access to state benefits in the sense of social insurance or transfer. It concludes with recommendations on protecting the poor, including social insurance and social assistance mechanisms for workers in the informal economy; a fiscal package to stimulate domestic demand and offset falling employment in export activities; and a focus on agriculture, especially food production, that will have multiplier effects throughout the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]