Registration of Unorganized Workers picks pace in Country, over 1 cr. register on e-shram portal

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : The drive to facilitate registration of unorganised workers on E-Shram portal has received huge attention since its launch on August 26, 2021. In almost 24 days, more than 1 crore workers have registered at the portal. As of September 19, 2021, 1,03,12,095 workers have registered on the portal. Of them, around 43% of the beneficiaries are female and 57% are male.

In a first ever concentrate step towards generating a comprehensive database of the unorganised workers from different sectors like construction, apparel manufacturing, fishing, gig, and platform work, street vending, domestic work, agriculture and allied, transport sector, and so on, the e-shram portal was launched by Union Labour & Employment Minister Bhupender Yadav and Minister of State  Rameshwar Teli on August 26.

As per Economic Survey 2019-20, there are an estimated 38 crore unorganised workers (UW) in the country, which would be targeted to register on this portal.These migrant workers can now also take the benefits of various social security and employment-based schemes through registration on the e-Shram portal.

Bhupender Yadav, RameswarTeli, Secretary Labour and Employment Apurva Chandra, and Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) and other regional officers of CLC are interacting with the unorganised workers and leaders of trade union and media, to sensitise them about the features and benefits of the recently launched e-SHRAM portal for creating a national database of unorganised sector workers. Also, the CLC(C) held five such meetings to bolster the registration exercise, according to a PIB release.

As per the latest data, the states of Bihar, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal, are at the forefront in this initiative with the highest number of registrations. However, putting this number into perspective must be with caution. Smaller states and union territories (UTs) understandably have lesser number of registered workforce.

The drive needs to gain momentum in states and UTs such as Kerala, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Chandigarh. This registration would facilitate delivery and accessibility to crucial welfare programmes and various entitlements meant for the workers in the unorganised sector and employment.

The largest number of workers registered are from agriculture and construction given the sheer volume of these two sectors in employment generation in India. Besides, workers from diverse and different occupations like domestic and household workers, apparel sector workers, automobile and transport sector workers, electronics and hardware workers, capital goods workers, education, healthcare, retail, tourism and hospitality, food industry, and many more have registered with this portal.

Around 48% of these registered workers are in the age group of 25-40 years, followed by around 21% registration in the age group of 40-50 years, 19% registration in the age group of 16-25 years, and 12% registration in the age group of 50 years and above.

A substantial proportion of registration has been facilitated by the CSC. Interestingly, in certain states like Kerala and Goa and in North-East India, Meghalaya and Manipur, a greater proportion of individuals have self-registered on the portal. Similar is the case with most Union Territories like Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Andaman & Nicobar and Ladakh.

However, according to the latest updates an overwhelming proportion of workers (68%) have registered themselves through CSCs. Therefore, outreach of the CSCs emerges to be a crucial factor in lesser facilitated areas. Workers are encouraged to visit their nearest CSCs to register themselves with the portal. Migrant workers, in particular, would immensely benefit from this.

For online registrations, individual workers can use E-Shram’s mobile application or the website. They can also visit the Common Service Centres (CSC), State Seva Kendra, Labour Facilitation Centres, selected post offices of the Department of Posts’ Digital Seva Kendras, to register themselves on this portal. After registration, the unorganised workers shall receive a digital e-SHRAM card and they can update their profiles/ particulars through portal or mobile app. They will have a Universal Account Number (on eSHRAM Card) that will be acceptable across the country and now they will not be required to register at different places for obtaining social security benefits.If a worker is registered at the e-Shram portal and meets with an accident, he/she will be eligible for Rs 2 lakh on death or permanent disability and Rs 1 lakh on partial disability.