Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatreya said the Centre was considering identification and registration of unorganised workers under the provisions of the Unorganised Workers Social Security Act.

“Unorganised workers will be issued a National Card with portability, which will be linked to Aadhar. It will also have details of bank account, mobile numbers and benefits of social security schemes that can be availed by them. Today, 92 per cent of the work force in the country is in the unorganised sector,” the Minister said at a conference on Good Governance here today.

He pointed out that a large number of workers in this sector have acquired skills informally, but are not able to progress in their career due to lack of formal certification.

In the new Apprenticeship Scheme, the government has set a goal to enhance the number of seats from the current 4.9 lakhs to 20 lakhs in the next few years. The government has recently doubled the stipend amount under the scheme from Rs 2,100 per month to about Rs 4,200.

Dattatreya said the Government would take labour force into confidence while unrolling the labour reforms. He wanted the trade unions to participate in the reforms and come out with their suggestions and inputs.

The conference focussed on ways to enhance good governance through transparency, digitisation and accountability.

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