e-SHRAM – A PLATFORM FOR UNORGANISED WORKERS

[DR.MARIAPPAN GOVINDARAJAN]

Unorganised sector

Around 88% of the workers of our country is engaged in unorganised sector and they are not getting adequate social security benefits. Few welfare schemes are being implemented by the Central Government for specific groups/sub-groups of unorganised workers such as beedi workers, cine workers, building and constructions workers etc. The Government is implementing welfare programs for certain categories of unorganised sector works and non-government organisations also provide social security to certain categories of workers. The Central Government, in order to provide certain welfare schemes to all groups of the unorganised sector workers, has enacted the ‘Unorganised workers Social Security Act, 2008. This Act has now been synced in the Code on Social Security which is a common welfare approach.

Unorganised worker

 Any worker who is a home-based worker, self-employed worker or a wage worker working in the unorganised sector and not a member of ESIC or EPFO, is called an unorganised worker.

e-Shram portal

Ministry of Labour & Employment has developed eShram portal for creating a National Database of Unorganized Workers (‘NDUW’ for short), which will be seeded with Aadhaar. It will have details of name, occupation, address, occupation type, educational qualification, skill types etc. for optimum realization of their employability and extend the benefits of the social security schemes to them. It is the first-ever national database of unorganised workers including migrant workers, construction workers, gig and platform workers, etc.

e-Shram is a comprehensive NDUW launched by the Government of India under the Ministry of Labour & Employment. Its primary purpose is to facilitate delivery of welfare benefits and social security measures to unorganised sector workers across the country. The platform aims to register and provide identity cards to unorganised workers, enabling them to access various government schemes, benefits, and services more efficiently. Unorganised sector comprises of establishment/ units which are engaged in the production/ sale of goods/ services and employs less than 10 workers. These units are not covered under Employees State Insurance Corporation and Employees Provident Fund Organisation. The platform strives to adhere to accessibility standards to ensure inclusivity for all users.

Objectives

The objectives of e-shram portal are-

• To create a centralized database of all unorganized workers (UWs) including Construction Workers, Migrant Workers, Gig and Platform workers, Street Vendors, Domestic Workers, Agriculture Workers, etc., to be seeded with Aadhaar.
• To improve the implementation efficiency of the social security services for the unorganized workers
• To integrate Social Security Schemes meant for UWs being administered by MoLE and subsequently those run by other ministries as well.
• To share information in respect of registered unorganised workers with various stakeholders such as Ministries/ Departments/ Boards/ Agencies/ Organisations of the Central & State Governments through APIs for delivery of various social security and welfare schemes being administered by them.
• Portability of the social security and welfare benefits to the migrant and construction workers.
• To Provide a comprehensive database to Central and State Governments for tackling any National Crises like COVID-19 in future.

Registration

There are no income criteria for registering on e-Shram as unorganised worker. However, the worker should not be an income tax payee. Any worker who is unorganised and aged between 16-59 years, is eligible to register on the e-Shram portal subject to fulfilling of other criteria. Agriculture labours and landless farmers are eligible for registration in the e-Shram portal. For registration in the portal one should have aadhaar number aadhaar linked mobile number and bank account details. If a worker does not have Aadhaar linked mobile number, he/ she may visit nearest Common Service Centre or State Seva Kendra and register through biometric authentication. The e-Shram card never expires. It is valid till the life time of the card holder and therefore there is no requirement to renew the card. At the time of registration on eShram Portal, a worker is required to select his activity in the form of occupation which he/ she is currently doing. In case if a worker moves to unorganised sector, he/ she will only be entitled for benefits defined for organised sector workers. There are no educational qualifications for registering on this portal. After attaining the age of 60 the card holder does not require to take any action. There is no time limit for taking registration under this scheme. The portal is working for 24x7 for the purposes of registration.

Benefits

Central Government has developed e-Shram portal which is a centralised database of unorganised workers seeded with Aadhaar. It is envisaged that this portal will be used to facilitate delivery of various social security benefits to unorganised workers. In emergency and national pandemic like situations, this database may be utilised to provide necessary assistance to the eligible unorganised workers.

Grievance

If there is any grievance on this system, the card holder is to approach to redress his/her grievances.

Registration details as on 01.05.2025

The total number of registrations in e-shram portal is 308172758. Registration can be done by the individuals, by CSC, STK and by umang. The break of registrations state wise is furnished in the following table-

State	SSK registrations	CSC registrations	Self-registrations	Registrations by Umang	Total Registrations
UP	271138	45742055	37857965	1985	83879604
Bihar	8046	20851908	9026621	1477	29893620
West Bengal	600	20314277	6138119	1650	26457354
MP	5196	10367259	8389245	1739	18767930
Maharashtra	2712	8045148	9626997	5591	17725615
Rajasthan	30099	5124254	9536679	1748	14698324
Odissa	359	9575242	4003441	541	13580891
Gujarat	465024	4560360	2826971	3014	12048353
Karnataka	16128	5918519	4848311	1280	10788519
TOTAL	5078802	170384961	123553810	29079	308172758

Note: The details of other states are not presented here. However, the total includes the registration in all States including the States mentioned herein.

The Highest registration is in UP followed by Bihar and West Bengal.

The sector wise registration details is furnished in the following table-

Occupation sectors	No. of registrations
Tobacco industry	2698538
Glass & Ceramics	287136
Banking, financial services and Insurance	44754
Textiles and handloom	204714
Musical instruments	110740
Service	294775
Wood and carpentry	204165
Organised retail	204165
Professionals	815598
Mining	449988
Gem & Jewellery	1016297
Printing	496790
Handicrafts and carpets	2328148
Private Security	454244
Beauty and wellness	2070773
Food industry	1483151
Leather Industry works	6082687
Capital goods and manufacturing	6436571
Education	5181151
Electronics & HW	5002876
Tourism and hospitality	4194479
Health care	3449174
Retail	2351288
Office Administration and facility management	2938401
Apparel	20150065
Domestic and Household workers	28959488
Automobile and transportation	8266414
Miscellaneous	13841746
Construction	27886595
Agriculture	160383964
Total	308172758

Against the sectors shown in the table the agricultural sector takes first place in the highest registration followed by domestic and household workers, construction.

Reference:

1. www.eshram.gov.in.