e-Shram Portal: Five Years of Supporting Unorganised Workers

Social Justice · Wednesday, 26 August 2026

The e-Shram Portal, India's national database for unorganised sector workers, marks five years of operation, providing a unified digital identity and access to social security schemes for millions of informal workers. The portal remains a critical infrastructure for extending welfare coverage to India's vast unorganised workforce.

Quick highlights

e-Shram is the national database for unorganised sector workers, launched by the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
The portal provides a unique e-Shram card with a 12-digit Universal Account Number (UAN) to registered workers.
It enables access to social security schemes including insurance, pension, and skill development programmes.
The portal covers workers across construction, domestic work, gig economy, agriculture, and other informal sectors.
Five years of operation highlight both the scale of digital enrolment and the challenges of last-mile welfare delivery.

Context

The e-Shram Portal marks five years of supporting unorganised workers in India. Launched to create a comprehensive national database of informal sector workers, the portal aims to bridge the gap between welfare schemes and the estimated 380+ million unorganised workers who lack formal employment records and social security coverage.

Key Facts

e-Shram is operated by the Ministry of Labour and Employment. It issues a 12-digit Universal Account Number (UAN) linked to Aadhaar for each registered unorganised worker. The portal covers workers in construction, domestic work, gig and platform economy, agriculture, street vending, and other informal occupations. Registration enables access to Central and State social security schemes including Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, and Atal Pension Yojana.

Significance

e-Shram addresses the fundamental challenge of identifying and reaching India's vast unorganised workforce, which constitutes over 90% of the total labour force. The digital database enables targeted welfare delivery, reduces duplication, and provides a foundation for portable social security benefits across State boundaries. It is a critical enabler for the Code on Social Security, 2020, which mandates comprehensive coverage for unorganised and gig workers.

Challenges / Way Forward

Challenges: low awareness among the most vulnerable workers; digital literacy barriers; incomplete integration with State-level welfare databases; and limited actual benefit delivery despite registration. Way forward: strengthen last-mile enrolment through Common Service Centres (CSCs) and self-help groups; integrate e-Shram with the One Nation One Ration Card and Ayushman Bharat platforms; and operationalise the Social Security Fund for gig and platform workers under the Code on Social Security, 2020.

Exam Angle

GS Paper II (Social Justice/Governance): unorganised sector welfare, social security, digital public infrastructure. GS Paper III (Economy): informal economy, gig workers, labour codes. Prelims: e-Shram, UAN, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Code on Social Security 2020. Mains: evaluate the effectiveness of digital platforms in extending social security to unorganised workers.

Remember this

e-Shram is the national database for unorganised sector workers.
Operated by the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
Issues a 12-digit Universal Account Number (UAN) linked to Aadhaar.
Covers construction, domestic, gig, agricultural, and street-vending workers.
India's unorganised workforce constitutes over 90% of the total labour force.
The portal marks five years of operation in 2026.
Linked to the Code on Social Security, 2020.

More from Wednesday, 26 August 2026

Full Wednesday, 26 August 2026 edition with MCQs