The pace of registration of unorganised workers on the government’s e-Shram portal has fallen steadily – and rather steeply – since the peak levels achieved in December 2021, even as one in almost one in three of them are yet to find themselves on the portal. The Aadhaar-seeded centralised database is being created primarily to improve the targetting of delivery of benefits under the welfare schemes meant for these workers and provide them a modicum of social security.
While the e-shram portal was launched on August 24 last year, as many as 26 crore of an estimated 38 crore unorganised sector workers (as per Economic Survey 2019-20) in the country, including agriculture workers, domestic helps, street vendors, etc, have already joined the Centre’s maiden initiative.
From just three persons on the first day of registration, the daily count climbed to a peak of Rs 80 lakh on December 30, 2021. The number has started falling since then, though not exactly uniformly, to stand at just Rs 4.8 lakh on February 22.
All workers, aged between 16-59 years, and not members of existing social sector schemes run by ESIC and EPFO are eligible to register in the e-Shram portal.
After registering, those within 18-59 years bracket get an accidental insurance cover of Rs 2 lakh under the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) for the first year at no cost. From the second year, she has to pay an annual premium of Rs 12 to remain continuously covered under the insurance scheme.
While lack of proper propaganda at the grassroots level could be one of the reasons for the declining registrations, the engagement of such set of workers in the ongoing harvesting work may also be responsible for the trend, sources said.
With 8.2 crore registration, Uttar Pradesh tops the list among the states followed by Bihar (Rs 2.74 crore), West Bengal (Rs 2.51 crore), Madhya Pradesh (Rs 1.41 crore) and Odisha (Rs1.32 crore). Agricultural sector rules the roost with Rs 13.35 crore registration till now followed by domestic & household workers at Rs 2.66 crore. Majority of the workers (Rs 24 crore) earn Rs 10,000 or less in a month.
Females have a higher share of registration at 52.73% than their male counterparts. Of the total registered, 62% are in the 18-40 years age bracket, 22% in the 40-50 years age bracket and the remaining above 50 years. Nearly 46% registered belong to the other backward class (OBC).
