Wider social security net on cards for unorganised sector workers

 Ministries in charge of key government welfare schemes will have to integrate their data with the e-Shram portal The government is working on a strategy to empower millions of informal sector workers and help them avail of the benefits of several welfare schemes, such as housing, health care, insurance, pension, and foodgrain support.

The Ministry of Labour & Employment is working to build a comprehensive database of unorganised sector workers by merging the data of the beneficiaries of existing government welfare schemes with the e-Shram portal, a senior government official told Business Standard.

This may be one of the priorities of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) -led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government if it comes back to power. The move might benefit close to 300 million e-Shram-registered workers. Launched in 2021 by the labour ministry, the portal is the national database of unorganised workers that includes agricultural, domestic, construction, gig, and platform workers, etc.

 This database will be prepared through a convergence mechanism, by which relevant government departments will have to take ownership of the e-Shram portal in terms of onboarding their databases on to the portal. As a result, welfare and social security schemes and worker data will be brought together on one platform.

“All ministries will need to focus on onboarding their databases concerning the workers they are in charge of and ministries in charge of key government welfare schemes will also have to put their data and merge it with the e-Shram portal,” the official cited above told Business Standard.

“For instance, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs will have data on street vendors and the finance ministry will have data on Atal Pension Yojana. They will bring this data together on the portal,” the official added.

Meetings have already begun with the relevant ministries and government departments regarding the same, the official added. Once all the data is merged, the worker will then have to fill out an application form and apply for facilities like ration cards, health care, housing, or insurance, which the worker hasn’t been availing of.

Since the e-Shram database is Aadhaar-seeded, it will help the authorities to keep duplicity and redundancy in check and better target the beneficiaries. Additionally, the universal account number allotted to workers will also be used.

Earlier, e-Shram card holders were provided with an accidental insurance benefit of Rs 2 lakh in case of death, and Rs 1 lakh in case of permanent disability. The portal captures details such as name, occupation, address, educational qualification, and skill type of workers. Close to 295 million workers had registered on the portal as of March 2024.

On Sunday, the BJP had promised in its manifesto that the e-Shram portal database would be used to provide the benefits of various government programmes to workers. “We have registered unorganised workers on the e-Shram platform. We will reach out to the e-Shram-registered ‘shramik bandhu’ and help them avail of the benefits of various government programmes that they are eligible for,” the party’s manifesto read.