Launch of e-Shram Portal – Database on Unorganised Workers

On Tuesday, Bhupender Yadav, the Union Minister for Labour and Employment, announced that the government would launch the e-Shram portal on 26 August 2021. This portal will maintain the National Database on Unorganised Workers (NDUW). It will bring millions of unorganised workers on one platform.

The Union Minister for Labour and Employment launched the logo of the e-Shram portal, aiming to register 38 crore unorganised workers in the country. The unorganised workers include the migrant workforce, construction labourers, domestic workers, street vendors, gig and platform workers, etc.

Along with the portal’s launch, the government will also launch a toll-free number – 14434 to address and assist with the workers’ queries of registration on the portal. The workers can register on the e-Shram portal shortly after its launch on the same day, i.e. 26 August 2021.

The workers can register using their Aadhaar card number and bank account details. They will also have to fill in the necessary information like home town, date of birth, social category and mobile number. The government will issue the workers an e-Shram card consisting of a 12 digit unique number. The state governments and departments will also share the details of the workers on the portal.

The objective behind launching the e-Shram portal is the integration of the social security schemes of the government. Identifying and collecting data on the unorganised workers in the country was a much-needed step since accurate data is unavailable. This portal will be the national database on unorganised workers and bring the welfare schemes to their doorstep.

All trade union leaders extended their support for the implementation and launch of the e-Shram portal. The Union Minister for Labour and Employment thanked the union leaders for providing constructive and valuable suggestions and emphasised that they have a significant role towards speedier implementation and registration at the field level and taking the portal to the unorganised workforce.

The launch of the e-Shram portal will ensure that the welfare schemes reach the beneficiaries at the right time across the country. The government can know the details of all unorganised workers in the country through the data on the e-Shram portal. It will help the government provide benefits of the social and welfare schemes to the unorganised workers in the country for their betterment.

For any clarifications/feedback on the topic, please contact the writer at mayashree.acharya@cleartax.in