• Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya launched ‘e-Shram-One Stop Solution’ for unorganised workers.

• It aims to integrate information of beneficiaries of all social security and welfare schemes meant for unorganised workers in an effective manner through a single platform.

• The e-Shram-One Stop Solution will act as a mediator to ensure that unorganised workers have easy access to a variety of government schemes/programmes. 

• This initiative will help unorganised workers become aware of the schemes designed for them.

What is the purpose of e-Shram portal?

• The Ministry of Labour & Employment launched the e-Shram portal on August 26, 2021.

• The ministry developed the portal for creating a national database of unorganised workers, which is seeded with Aadhaar. 

• Unorganised sector comprises establishment/units which are engaged in production/sale of goods/services and employs less than 10 workers. These units are not covered under ESIC & EPFO.

• 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 Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) or Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), is called an unorganised worker.

• The portal will have details of name, occupation, address, educational qualification, skill types and family details for optimum realisation of their employability and extend the benefits of the social security schemes to them.

• After registration at the portal, the unorganised workers shall receive a digital e-Shram card and they can update their profiles/particulars through portal or mobile app. 

• This registration would facilitate delivery and accessibility to crucial welfare programmes and various entitlements meant for the workers in the unorganised sector. 

• They will have a Universal Account Number (on e-Shram Card) that will be acceptable across the country and 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. 

• Since its launch, the e-Shram portal has successfully registered over 30 crore unorganized workers.

A one-stop solution for unorganised workers

• The one-stop solution entails consolidating and integrating data from various central ministries/departments into a single repository as per the recent Budget announcement and 100 days agenda of the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

• The e-Shram platform aims to simplify and provide seamless access to various social security schemes for unorganised workers registered on the portal. 

• It acts as a bridge between workers and government welfare schemes, enhancing the registration process and making access easier and more transparent.

• The platform consolidates and integrates data from various central ministries and departments into a single repository.

Major welfare schemes already integrated into the platform include:

• One Nation One Ration Card 

• Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) 

• National Social Assistance Programme 

• National Career Service 

• Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan 

• The integration of additional schemes is ongoing, further enhancing the platform's utility.

• The initiative showcases a “whole-of-government” approach, as evidenced by numerous meetings held with concerned ministries during the first 100 days of the new government to integrate their social security and welfare schemes with e-Shram.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)