 Every year, 10 million Indian workers cross the retirement age of 60. But for most of them, retirement is nothing but a distant dream. More than 90% of the Indian workers cannot afford to retire because they do not have any pension. Some may suggest that this could easily be avoided if these workers had set aside some savings from their monthly incomes. But with average monthly earnings of Rs 5,800, these workers barely have enough to meet their most basic needs of food, shelter and clothing. Let alone having enough to save for the future or other needs like hospitalisation, childbirth and disablement. As a result, millions of Indian workers are forced into heavy debt and have no option but to work well beyond their retirement age. What is the government doing about this? Articles 41 and 42 of the Indian constitution direct governments to make provisions for old age, sickness, disability and maternity relief related needs of its citizens. But so far, the Indian government has done very little with regard to this. Workers of the organised sector are expected to set aside 12.5% of their wages to avail social security. On the other hand, informal sector workers who constitute 90% of the Indian workforce are expected to set aside 20% of their wages for this purpose. Out of a monthly wage of Rs 5,800, how much money can a worker set aside for social security? Close to nothing. As a result, more than 420 million Indian workers do not have social security. According to ILO estimates, it will cost India roughly 3.6 lakh crores every year to provide social protection to the entire population. Is this too high an amount for the government to spend? Not really. Compare this to the tax income that the government has lost due to tax concessions given to corporates and the rich just in 2014-15, which is 5.6 lakh crores. This amount could have been spent by the government for social protection instead, with some revenues still left over. In a clear choice between universal social security for 90% of the population and tax concessions for the top 1%, what is the right choice?