More than 4 crore unorganized workers have registered on the e-shram portal.
The Ministry of Labor and Employment on Sunday said that the number of registrations has crossed the 4 crore mark in less than two months of the launch of the e-Shram portal.
According to a statement from the labor ministry, workers in diverse occupations such as construction, apparel manufacturing, fishing, gig and platform work, street vending, domestic work, agriculture and allied, transport sectors have registered on the portal.
In some of these areas, a huge proportion of migrant workers are also involved, it said.
All workers in the unorganized sector including migrants can now avail benefits of various social security and employment based schemes through registration on the e-shram portal.
As per the latest figures, 4.09 crore workers have registered on the portal. Of these, about 50.02 percent beneficiaries are women and 49.98 percent are men.
It is encouraging that an equal proportion of men and women have been a part of this campaign.
There has been a weekly improvement in gender-based registration, with male and female workers registering in comparable proportions.
As per the data, the states of Odisha, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh are at the forefront of this initiative with the highest number of registrations.
However, putting this number in perspective should be done with caution. Smaller states and union territories (UTs) have lesser number of registered employees, this is evident.
Also, this campaign needs to gain momentum in states and union territories like Meghalaya, Manipur, Goa and Chandigarh.
This registration will facilitate delivery and access to important welfare programs and various entitlements for workers in the unorganized sector and employment. For online registration, individual workers can use e-Shram’s mobile application or website.
They can also visit Common Service Centers (CSCs), State Service Centers, Shram Suvidha Kendras, Selected Post Offices of the Department of Posts, Digital Seva Kendras to register themselves.
After registration on the e-shram portal, the unorganized workers will receive a digital e-shram card and can update their profile/details through the portal or mobile app.
They will have a Universal Account Number (on the eSHRAM card) which will be acceptable across the country and will no longer need to register at different locations to avail social security benefits.
If an employee is registered on the e-shram portal and happens to be an accident victim, he will be eligible for Rs 2 lakh on death or permanent disability and Rs one lakh on partial disability.
Given the huge amount of these two sectors in job creation in India, the largest number of registered workers are from agriculture and construction.
In addition, domestic and domestic workers, garment sector workers, automobile and transport sector workers, electronics and hard wearworkers, capital goods workers, workers in education, health care, retail, tourism and hospitality, food industry and many other occupations have registered. Have done on this portal.
About 65.68 per cent of these registered workers are in the age group of 16-40 years and 34.32 per cent are in the age group of 40 years and above.
The social composition of these workers includes Other Backward Classes (OBC) and general castes, with about 43 per cent and 27 per cent from these categories and 23 per cent and 27 per cent from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes respectively.
As shown in the above graph, a substantial proportion of registrations have been facilitated by CSCs. Interestingly, in some states like Kerala and Goa, and in North-East India, Meghalaya and Manipur, a large number of individuals have self-registered in the portal.
Similar is the case with most of the Union Territories like Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Andaman and Nicobar and Ladakh.
This can be attributed to the high level of literacy and use of technology in these states. However, as per the latest update, a huge proportion (77 per cent) of workers have registered themselves through CSCs, the ministry said.
As the above figure shows, the reach of CSCs has improved week by week.
Hence, the accessibility of CSCs in less privileged areas has emerged as an important factor. Workers are encouraged to visit their nearest CSC to register themselves on the portal and take advantage of this exercise which will lead to greater portability and last mile delivery of various welfare programmes.
Union Labor Minister Bhupendra Yadav and other officials are holding several interactions with workers in the unorganized sector and leaders of trade union and media, to make them aware about the features and benefits of the e-shram portal, so that the workers themselves be encouraged to register. Take advantage of the available modes and many social security and welfare schemes.
.