PIB Summary- 17th October, 2021 | PIB (Press Information Bureau) Summary - UPSC PDF Download

e-Shram Portal

Context:

More than 4 crore unorganized workers registered at e-Shram Portal.

Details:

• Workers in diverse occupations such as construction, apparel manufacturing, fishing, gig and platform work, street vending, domestic work, agriculture and allied, transport sector have registered at the portal.
• In some of these sectors, an overwhelming proportion of migrant workers are also engaged.
• All unorganized workers including migrant workers can now take the benefits of various social security and employment-based schemes through registration at the e-Shram portal.
• The largest number of workers registered is from agriculture and construction, given the sheer volume of these two sectors in employment generation in India.

e-Shram Portal

The Ministry of Labour and Employment has launched the e-Shram Portal for creating a National Database of Unorganized Workers (NDUW), which will be seeded with Aadhaar.
It is the first-ever national database of unorganised workers including migrant workers, construction workers, gig and platform workers, etc. The Portal will prove to be a huge boost towards the last-mile delivery of the welfare schemes for crores of unorganized workers.
The table given below mentions a few important details about eShram: 

About eShram – Key Points

• It is for the first time in the country that a system has been developed to register 38 crore Unorganised Workers
• The e-Shram portal will cover all unorganised workers of the nation and help link them to social security schemes of the Government of India
• Under the scheme, Rs 2.0 Lakh Accidental Insurance cover will be provided to every registered (on eShram portal) unorganised worker
  (i) If a worker is registered on the eShram portal and meets with an accident, he will be eligible for Rs 2.0 Lakh on death or permanent disability and Rs 1.0 lakh on partial disability
• Every registered unorganised worker shall be issued an eSHRAM card with a unique Universal Account Number (UAN) and will be able to access the benefits of the various social security schemes through this Card anywhere anytime

Objectives of the Portal

• Creation of 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 improve the implementation efficiency of the social security services for the unorganized workers
• Portability of the social security and welfare benefits to the migrant and construction workers.
• Providing a comprehensive database to Central and State Governments for tackling any National Crises like COVID-19 in future.
• Easy to share information with the various stakeholders such as Ministries/ Departments/ Boards/ Agencies/ Organisations of the Central & State Governments

eShram Portal – Eligibility Criteria

• An unorganised worker between the age of 16 and 59 years
• The worker must not be a member of EPFO/ESIC or NPS

The Way Forward

The formation of eShram portal came after the Supreme Court directed the Government to complete the registration process of unorganized workers so that they can avail the welfare benefits given under various government schemes.

Once the eligible workers in the unorganized sector are registered under the portal they shall be able to easily access the benefits under the various social welfare schemes and also, register themselves for the accidental insurance policy released by the government. 

Various other initiatives have been taken for the development and growth of the unorganized workers like the 

• Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-Dhan Yojana (PM-SYM)
• PM SVANidhi Scheme
• Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, and many more