eShram Portal Has Over 30.68 Crore Registration, With More Than Half From Women

E-Shram portal has more than 30.68 crore unorganised sector workers registered on it as of March 3, 2025. The portal comprises a comprehensive database of workers in the unorganised sector. On a question in the Lok Sabha on March 10, 2025, about the number of workers registered on the portal, who have availed benefits from schemes linked with it, and the effectiveness of it, the Minister of State for Labour and Employment Shobha Karandlaje gave a written reply. She informed that there are over 30.68 crore workers registered on the portal and 53.68 per cent of them are female.

What Is eShram Portal?

The government launched the portal in August 2021. The Ministry of Labour and Employment developed it with the purpose of creating a comprehensive database of unorganised sector workers and seeding it with Aadhaar to transfer them to social security and other welfare benefits. It defines an unorganised sector worker as “Any worker who is a home-based worker, self-employed worker or a wage worker working in the unorganised sector and not a member of ESIC or EPFO, is called an unorganised worker”.

What Is Unorganised Sector?

Any establishment which is engaged in producing or selling goods or services and employs less than 10 people, is defined as an unorganised sector. Also, such establishments should not be covered under the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) or Employee State Insurance Corporation (ESIC).

Anybody between the ages of 16 to 59 can register on the portal. Such a person should not be a member of EPFO, ESIC, or the government-funded National Pension System (NPS).

In the written reply, Karandlaje said that the portal has integrated 13 schemes of different ministries and departments of the central government so far. These schemes include:

·      Pradhan Mantri Street Vendors Atmanirbhar Nidhi (PMSVANidhi)

·      Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY)

·      Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY)

·      National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS)

·      Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)

·      Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G)

·      Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY)

·      Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U)

·      Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY)

·      Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maan Dhan Yojana (PM-KMY).

The registration requires self-declaration. Yet many workers in the unorganised sector are not aware of the portal or do not know how to register themselves.