CHENNAI: In the last four years, a little over 31 crore unorganised workers, including inter-state migrant workers, have enrolled on the Union Government's eShram portal.
More than 27% of the registered ISMs are from the state of Uttar Pradesh, while around 93 lakh unorganised workers from Tamil Nadu have enrolled on the portal.
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the absence of a proper government mechanism to track unorganised and migrant workers, who were forced to migrate in search of livelihood during times of distress.
As scenes emerged of hapless workers walking hundreds of kilometres to return home, the Supreme Court stepped in and issued a series of orders, prompting the Union government to launch eShram web portal on August 26, 2021.
The initiative aims to create a comprehensive database of migrant and unorganised workers to facilitate the targeted delivery of welfare and social security schemes.
"Over 31 crore unorganised workers, including migrant workers, have registered on the eShram portal," Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Sushri Shobha Karandlaje, informed Parliament in response to a question raised by DMK MP Tiruchi Siva.
According to government data, 8.4 cr unorganised workers and ISMs from Uttar Pradesh have enrolled on the portal. They account for more than a quarter of the total registrations.
Workers from Bihar make up around 10% (3 cr) of total registrations, while significant numbers have also been recorded from West Bengal (2.64 cr), Madhya Pradesh (1.89 crore), Maharashtra (1.78 cr), and Rajasthan (1.49 cr).
The Union Ministry of Labour stated that the portal serves as a one-stop solution for welfare schemes, supporting migrant workers through integrated and mapped services.
It may be recalled that the Tamil Nadu and Kerala state governments have been taking measures to develop their own mechanisms to capture the movement of ISMs and build complete databases to extend state-sponsored welfare schemes to them. In Tamil Nadu, the State Labour Department has already registered over 12.51 lakh ISMs and is also taking efforts to rope in private agencies to launch a state-wide survey.