Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch e-Shram card on Thursday, to benefit over 38 crore workers in the unorganised sector. Union Labour Minister Bhupender Yadav met representatives of Central Trade Unions on Tuesday and requested cooperation for registering workers in the e-Shram portal, the national database for unorganised sector workers.
The Universal Account Number on e-Shram card will be acceptable across the country. The officials in the Ministry told Trade Unions that the workers will not have to register at multiple places.
All registered workers will be covered under the Accidental Insurance Coverage of PMSBY for a year. An amount of ₹2 lakh for accidental death and permanent disability and ₹1 lakh for partial disability will be provided for the workers. The Centre said all social security benefits of unorganised workers will be delivered through this portal.
The Centre is extending one time financial assistance to the States/UTs under e-Shram for setting up of procurement of IT infrastructure and State helpdesk. At the time of registration, Aadhaar Number and Bank Account Details of the workers will be added in the card.
‘Mobilise workers’
The Ministry also requested trade unions to mobilise their workers for registration in the portal. Their help is sought also for creating awareness amongst the prospective beneficiaries and motivate them for registration. Unorganised workers, BOCW Workers, SHG members, domestic workers, ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers, street vendors, rickshaw-pullers, brick-kiln workers, agricultural labourers, MGNREGA workers, fishermen, shopkeepers and small retailers can register in the website.
CITU general secretary Tapan Sen, who attended the meeting, said the demand for such a database for unorganised sector workers is very old. Even the Arjun Sengupta commission had recommended such a database. “Now, with the Supreme Court pulling up the Centre over the lack of data on migrant workers, the Ministry has expedited work on the portal. We welcome the creation of such a database. It has been our demand. The government had to do this because of the intervention of the apex court,” Sen said.