About one crore workers from the unorganised sector have registered on the e- shram portal in almost 24 days. The e-Shram portal was launched by the Union Minister of Labour and Employment, Bhupender Yadav, and Minister of State, on August 26.
As of now, 1, 03, 12,095 workers have registered on the portal. Of these, around 43 per cent of the beneficiaries are female and 57 per cent are male.
As per the Economic Survey 2019-20, there are an estimated 38 crores unorganised workers (UW) in the country, which would be targeted to register on this portal.
This registration would facilitate delivery and accessibility to crucial welfare programmes and various entitlements meant for workers in the unorganised sector and employment.
These migrant workers can also now take advantage of various social security and employment-based schemes through registration at the e-Shram portal. As per the latest data, the states of Bihar, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal are at the forefront of this initiative with the highest number of registrations, as depicted by the graph below.
Putting this number into context, however, must be done with caution. According to the ministry, smaller states and (UTs) reasonably have a lower number of registered workforces, according to the ministry. The drive needs to gain momentum in states and UTs such as, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Chandigarh.
The Ministry of Labour and Employment said that the largest numbers of workers registered are from agriculture and construction, given the sheer volume of these two sectors in employment generation in India.
Besides, workers from diverse and different occupations like education, healthcare, retail, tourism and hospitality, the food industry, and many more have registered on this portal.
Interestingly, in certain states like Kerala and Goa and in North-East India, Meghalaya and Manipur, a greater proportion of individuals have self-registered on the portal. Most Union Territories, including Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Andaman & Nicobar, and Ladakh, are in the same boat.
But, according to the latest updates, an overpowering proportion of workers (68%) have registered themselves through CSCs, and therefore, the outreach of the CSCs emerges to be a crucial factor in less facilitated areas.
Workers are encouraged to visit their nearest CSCs to register themselves at the portal and take advantage of this exercise, which would lead to greater portability and last-mile delivery of various welfare programmes. Migrant workers, in particular, would be immensely benefitted by this.