e-SHRAM PORTAL FOR UNORGANIZED WORKERS

[Mr. M. GOVINDARAJAN]

Introduction

The Ministry of Labour and Employment is continuously working on improving life and dignity of Labour force of country by protecting and safeguarding the interest of workers, promotion of welfare and providing social security to the Labour force both in Organized and Unorganized Sectors by enactment and implementation of various Labour Laws, which regulate the terms and conditions of service and employment of workers.

Ministry of Labour and Employment has developed eSHRAM portal for creating a National Database of Unorganized Workers including migrant workers, construction workers, gig and platform workers, etc., which will be seeded with Aadhaar. It will have details of name, occupation, address, educational qualification, skill types and family details 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 unorganized workers including.

Now this portal is in English and Hindi.  In future it will be provided in regional languages. 

Unorganized worker

Who is an unorganized worker?  Any worker, who is a home-based worker, self-employed worker or a wage worker working in the unorganized sector and not a member of Employees State Insurance Corporation or Employees Provident Fund Organization, is called an unorganized worker.

Objectives of e-SHRAM portal

The objectives for the creation of e-SHRAM portal are as below-

• to create  a centralized database of all unorganized workers 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 unorganized workers  being administered by Ministry of Labor and Employment and subsequently those run by other ministries as well;
• to share information in respect of unorganized workers with various stakeholders such as Ministries/Departments/Boards/Agencies/Organizations of the Central and State Governments through APIs for delivery of various social security and welfare schemes being administered by them.
• to enable the 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.

Eligibility for registration

Any individual can register with this portal subject to the following conditions-

• The minimum age is 16 years and maximum age is 59 years.
• He shall not be a member Employees Provident Fund Organization or Employees State Insurance Corporation or National Pension Scheme, which are funded by the Government.
• No minimum income requirement but he should not be an income tax payee.
• No educational qualification is prescribed for enrolling in this portal.  He/she should only be required to be employed in the gainful employment in the unorganized sector.

Only agriculture labor’s and landless farmers are eligible for registration in the eSHRAM portal. Other farmers are not eligible.

Occupation

A person's usual or principal work or business, especially as a means of earning a living is called occupation. The activity which is source of his major income is primary activity/occupation.     Any other activity which is a minor but significant source of income is called secondary activity/ occupation.

Benefits

After registering, the registered person will get an Accidental Insurance cover of ₹ 2 lakhs under PMSBY. In future, all the social security benefits of unorganized workers will be delivered through this portal. In emergency and national pandemic like situations, this database may be utilized to provide necessary assistance to the eligible unorganized workers.

The worker does not need to take any action after attaining the age of 60. He/ she will continue to get benefits under eSHRAM project, he/she is entitled for.

Procedure for registration

There is no time limit prescribed for registration.  There is no registration fee.  It can be done in all days.  Registration can be done in https://register.eshram.gov.in/#/user/self.

The following documents are required for registration-

• Aadhaar number;
• Mobile number linked with Aadhaar;
• Savings bank account number with IFSC.

If a worker does not have Aadhaar linked mobile number, he/ she can visit nearest CSC’s and register through Biometric authentication.  No fee is required to pay to register in this portal. 

At the time of registration, the worker is need to select occupation. It will be based on two level selection – At first level worker needs to select Sector (Agriculture, Automobiles, Construction, etc.), which is broad based category of activities. At second level worker is required to select his activity in the form of occupation which worker is currently doing. The activity which is source of his major income is primary activity/occupation. Any other activity which is a minor but significant source of income is called secondary occupation.

Universal Account Number is a 12 digits number uniquely assigned to each unorganized worker after registration on eSHRAM portal. UAN number will be a permanent number i.e. once assigned; it will remain unchanged for the worker’s lifetime.

Once registered in the portal, the worker will get Whatsapp messages from the Ministry of Labor and Employment.

CSC

If a person is not able to register in the portal he can register with the help of nearest CSC.  At present there are 296682 CSCs in India.  One may find the nearest CSC in the website https://findmycsc.nic.in/csc/.  One has to select the State and then the District in which he sought the CSC.  Village wise CSC can also be found out.

Updation

Once registered, a worker may update his particular details such as mobile number, current address, occupation, educational qualification, skill types, family details etc. through visiting on eSHRAM portals or nearest CSC’s.

Validity

The card issued to a person under this scheme is permanent in nature and valid for life time.  There is no necessity to renew the same.

Help desk

A dedicated National Help desk has been setup for any queries related to eSHRAM registration and grievances. Helpdesk Number is 14434 (or 10-digit number as provided by CSC)

Death of member

Nominee or family member should file a claim along with relevant documents on the eSHRAM portal/ CSCs. They may also contact their concerned banks.  Claimant should file a claim along with relevant documents on the eSHRAM portal/ nearest CSCs.

Details of registration

Till date 14,07,12.629 e-SHRAM cards have been issued.  The top five occupation sectors in this registration are-

• Agriculture – 71.19 million;
• Construction – 15.38 million;
• Domestic – 13.77 million;
• Apparel – 9.02 million;
• Miscellaneous – 5.32 million.

The top five States in this registration are-

• Uttar Pradesh – 35.44 million;
• West Bengal – 23.91 million;
• B ihar – 13.93 million;
• Odisha – 12.69 million;
• Jharkhand – 6.21 million.

Among the registered persons the percentage of female is 52.56% and the percentage of male workers is 47.44%.

The registration in age wise group-

• 18 to 40 years – 60.98%
• 40 to 50 years – 22.50%
• Above 50 years – 12.60%.

Reference:

1. https://eshram.gov.in.