Gig Workers Must Register On e-Shram Portal For Formal Recognition And Healthcare Benefits

The Ministry of Labour and Employment has asked gig workers to register on the e-Shram portal. This will give them formal recognition and access to Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).

According to the Social Security Code 2020, a gig worker refers to a person who participates in a work arrangement and earns from such activities outside. Such a worker does not belong to the traditional employer-employee relationship. People engaged with online platforms like Uber, Ola, Swiggy, and Zomato can be considered as gig workers. Since such workers have a job of a temporary nature, they are not provided any insurance by their employers. 

Budget 2025 had announced providing insurance under AB-PMJAY to one crore gig workers.

Gig workers registered in the Eshram portal will thus have access to AB-PMJAY benefits, a health scheme that provides Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary hospitals. This will be available across 31,000 hospitals across the country. So gig workers will now be issued identity cards and also have access to healthcare. 

Gig workers need to visit the e-Shram portal and complete their registration to avail these benefits. The Ministry of Labour and Employment ministry will soon implement the scheme as announced in Budget 2025. 

First workers need to self-register on the e-Shram portal. This will ensure that they are considered for benefits under the scheme at the earliest. 

The e-Shram portal was launched in August 2021. The idea was to provide gig workers with a Universal Account Number (UAN) and also build a national database of unorganised workers. 

By January 2025, 30.5 crore unorganized workers have already registered under the eShram portal. 12 schemes offered by the government have been integrated with the portal till date.