e-SHRAM Portal

Why is in news? e-SHRAM Portal registration facility available at over 4 lakh CSC centres across the country

The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha informed that the Ministry of Labour and Employment has launched e-SHRAM portal, a National Database of the Unorganised Workers on 26th August, 2021 for registration of unorganised workers seeded with Aadhaar.

To increase the number of registrations, the matter is taken up with all the States/UTs from time to time. The registration facility is available at over 4 lakh CSC centres across the country.

State Seva Kendras have also been taken on board. Further, CSC organises awareness camps (including night camps) at various places for mobilisation of workers.

THE Government has taken various steps to improve women’s participation in the labour force and quality of their employment.

A number of protective provisions have been incorporated in the labour laws for equal opportunity and congenial work environment for women workers. These include enhancement in paid maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks, provision for mandatory creche facility in the establishments having 50 or more employees, permitting women workers in the night shifts with adequate safety measures, etc.

THE Government has taken a decision to allow the employment of women in the above/ground mines including opencast workings between 7 pm and 6 am and in below ground working between 6 am and 7 pm in technical, supervisory and managerial work where continuous presence may not be required.

In the written reply, it was stated that the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 now subsumed in the Code on Wages, 2019 which provides that there shall be no discrimination in an establishment or any unit thereof among employees on the ground of gender in matters relating to wages by the same employer, in respect of the same work or work of similar nature done by any employee.

Further, no employer shall make any discrimination on the ground of gender while recruiting any employee for the same work or work of similar nature in the conditions of employment, except where the employment of women in such work is prohibited or restricted by or under any law for the time being in force.

Further, in order to enhance the employability of female workers, the Government is providing training to them through a network of Women Industrial Training institutes, National Vocational Training Institutes and Regional Vocational Training Institutes.

As on 29-01-2023 more than 28.55 crore unorganised workers have been registered on e-SHRAM Portal out of which 52.80 per cent are female workers.

e-SHRAM Portal:

e-Shram, an initiative of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, is a step towards building the Aadhaar Authenticated Comprehensive National Database of Unorganized Workers (NDUW), working in the country.

National Informatics Centre (NIC) as a technology partner has designed the e-Shram portal for optimum recognition of employability and to benefit from the social security schemes. It is the first-ever national database of unorganised workers including migrant workers, construction workers, etc.

Any worker who is working in unorganized sector and aged between 16-59, is eligible to register on the e-Shram portal. The portal is estimated to register more than 40 Crore Unorganized Workers.

Each registrant is allocated a Universal Account Number (UAN) and can download UAN card instantly and can avail benefits anytime, anywhere.

The current capacity of e-Shram portal is at 2 Lakh registrations per hour. The registration on the portal is free of cost.

Objectives of eShram Portal:

Creation of a centralized database of all unorganized workers (UWs) 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 and integration of Social Security Schemes meant for UWs being administered by MoLE and subsequently those run by other ministries as well

Sharing of information in respect of registered unorganised workers with various stakeholders such as Ministries/ Departments/ Boards/ Agencies/ Organisations of the Central & State Governments through APIs for delivery of various social security and welfare schemes being administered by them

Portability of the social security and welfare benefits to the migrant and construction workers

Providing a comprehensive database to Central and State Governments for tackling any National Crises like COVID-19 in future