Social Security Code 2020: An Analysis

The Indian labour market has beencontinuously and predominantly unorganised. In theyear 2018-19,the nature of employment for around 90 percent workers in India’s labour market was unorganised. These workers are either inadequately covered or are not at all covered under  existing labour legislations, social protection schemes, and other employment benefits. Due to the lack of governmental oversight, a large proportion of these workers work in exploitative and precarious conditions. According to International Trade Union Confederation, India is amongst the Ten worst countries in the world in terms of the worker rights in 2020 (ITUC, 2020). The first Sustainable Development Goal, seeks to end the poverty, and among its targets isformulation of national social protection floors, and the implementation of comprehensive social welfare programmes.Similarly, the ILO Recommendation 204 suggests the implementation of minimum social security guarantees to facilitate the transition from an informal to a formal economy. In the context of the widespread chronic poverty and the unrelenting wealth inequality, the social security can offer resilience against socio-economic shocks, such as the one we are faced with today because of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In this context, it is attempted to analyse the provisions of  the Social Security Code,2020 to verify the extent and scope of the Code and to understand its limitationsof the Code in providing comprehensive social security measures to ameliorate the conditions of poor and needy. &nbsp

Professional negligence in dental practice: Potential for civil and criminal liability in India

The doctor/dentist-patient relationship has transformed over the last two decades. Health professionals are increasingly viewed as providers of service for consideration. The Consumer Protection Act (CPA) was enacted in 1986 for better protection of the interests of consumers as well as to provide a simple and quick mechanism for redressing consumer grievances. Since 1995, health professionals have been included within the ambit of the CPA, empowering the patient to file lawsuits (in case of perceived negligence) in consumer courts. This review explores the definitions of 'consumer', 'services', and 'negligence', discussing their implications with respect to civil and criminal liability of dentists, while providing relevant case examples and court guidelines in landmark judgments. It is concluded that the potential for civil lawsuits against dentists for negligent actions is existent, although the prospect of a dentist being held liable for criminal negligence is low