Centre works with states to link workers' database with job website

The central and state governments are working together to sync the database of informal sector workers registered on the e-Shram portal with social security schemes and Unnati, the government’s employment website, to help them get jobs matching their profiles.

So far, around 8.43 crore workers from the informal sector have registered their Aadhaar numbers on the e-Shram website. While the government is trying to link the profiles of workers on e-Shram with Unnati, it expects to get a clear picture on the actual number of migrant workers in the country once it reaches the registration target of 38 crore.

The government has already announced the linking of accidental insurance on the e-Shram portal.

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The Union Labour Ministry on Sunday said the e-Shram portal has seen a steady enrollment with around 8.43 workers from the unorganised sectors having registered themselves on it till November 20, 2021. The portal was operationalised on August 26, 2021.

While officials initially were struggling to identify migrant workers, the question has been put on hold for now. Once, the registration process reaches its final stages, the government plans to analyse the data and check out for the home and work address of a worker. If the work address is outside the hometown, a worker will be categorised as a migrant worker.

The database of the e-portal will be further linked to Unnati in another six to eight weeks to help blue-collar and grey-collar workers find jobs. The database can be accessed by both employers and the workers.

So far, the enrollment has been high in the states of West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar and Jharkhand.

The website has as many as 400 occupation categories for workers to choose from.

According to the government, the five tops that women registered for on the e-Shram were agriculture (2.1 crore), domestic and household workers (71 lakh), apparel (46 lakh), construction (23 lakh) and miscellaneous (17.98 lakh). Similarly, men opted for agriculture
(2.3 crore), construction (78 lakh), automobile and transportation (22.1 lakh), capital goods and manufacturing (18.9 lakh) and miscellaneous (7.7 lakh).

The government will also analyze if workers who have registered on e-Shram were earlier employed with the formal sector by cross-checking their details on the Employees’ Provident Fund Organsation as both the registrations have a common format of a 12-digit identification number and Universal Account Number.

There has been an increased pitch in the government to universalize social security and customize schemes for workers from the unorganized sector and organized sector as well as those who shuttle between the two.

Also read: It is premature to determine if e-SHRAM will ensure data accuracy: Veena Naregal

Reports said the Centre is working with states to achieve the convergence of schemes to create a database of Aaadhaar-registered workers, a process which would eliminate confusions and help in streamlining job benefits.

The e-Shram portal, developed by the government in the wake of the distress caused to migrant workers during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, is meant to register the databse of migrant workers, gig workers, agricultural workers, anganwadi workers, street vendors and household workers among others, to find them suitable jobs.