2007年VOA标准英语-Indian Government Draws Up Social Security Plan

By Anjana Pasricha
New Delhi
25 May 2007

The Indian government has announced an ambitious plan to provide social security coverage¹ to millions of poor workers for the first time. As Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi, the plan is part of the government's efforts to fight widespread poverty.

Indian construction workers work on a building site in New Delhi (File)

Nearly 400 million daily wage workers at construction sites, farms and small businesses in India have no access to old age or health benefits.

The government has proposed to change that with new legislation to be introduced in parliament in July.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Das Munshi says workers who contribute about two cents a day will be eligible² for benefits such as health insurance and disability protection under the plan.

The federal government says those earning less than $160 a year will not have to pay for the program.

The government has called its plan a "revolutionary step."

The social security proposal was announced as the government faced criticism for doing too little for poor people despite a rapidly growing economy.

Independent political analyst³ and columnist⁴ Prem Shankar Jha in New Delhi says social insecurity is at the root of growing disillusionment with the government.

"What you require was … social insurance, old age pensions, health insurance," said Jha. "There is an abundance of data [to show] that poor families in this country, whenever a member falls ill, they go into debt … the average level of debt in the poorest ten per cent of the population on health alone is more than one years earning."

Currently, less than 10 percent of India's workforce⁵ has access to social security benefits.

The Labor⁶ Ministry⁷ says it has already committed $250 million for the new plan. But critics say it could cost billions of dollars, and say it is not clear how the government will fund the ambitious project.

Last year, the government launched another effort to tackle rural poverty by promising⁸ 100 days of work each year for one member from each of India's 60 million rural households. But so far that project covers less than half the country.

India's Congress Party-led government increased its focus on programs to benefit the poor after the party lost ground in a series of local elections. The government came to power three years ago promising to do more for the common man.

1 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

2 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

3 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

4 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

5 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

6 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

7 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

8 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。