Bengal leads in e-SHRAM registrations
The registrations of informal workers in the Union Labour Ministry’s e-SHRAM portal till now have thrown up the fact that Bengal leads with about a fifth of the registrations.
The e-SHRAM portal for creating a database of informal or unorganised sector workers in the country has seen about 5.67 crore registrations, of whom the maximum number till now, making up a little less than a fifth, is from the state of Bengal.
In the approximately two months from August 26 to October 31, 1.31 crore workers from Bengal, making up 23 per cent of the registrations, had registered themselves in the portal, called e-SHRAM and run by the Ministry of Labour & Employment. Odisha is the other state to cross one crore registrations.
Bengal’s number is 47 per cent of the target of 2.78 crore set for the state by the Union government. The high number of registrations also shows the state government’s efforts in encouraging workers to register themselves.
The government, in the near future, intends to link various welfare schemes with the portal. There is a provision for filling up Aadhaar and bank account numbers. Those who register will also get the benefit of accident insurance worth Rs 2 crore.
The government’s target for the country is 10 crore names by December 2021. Therefore, more than 50 per cent (5.67 crore) of the target has been achieved in two months, and the rest is supposed to happen in the next two months.
The e-SHRAM portal was created after the government got a rap from the Supreme Court for denying any knowledge about the number of migrant workers in the country, who were majorly affected by the lockdowns due to COVID-19 as they lost their jobs in cities and had to return home. Many died while returning, on the roads as well as on the special trains carrying them back.
The target date set by the apex court for registering all the country’s estimated 38 crore informal workers was December 31, though the current target, as per the Labour Ministry, is March 31, 2022.
Agricultural workers dominate, and so do women
The registrations on the portal till now have thrown up one big surprise. Despite migrant workers being the initial target, the data reveals that 55 per cent have registered themselves as agricultural workers, and only 2.39 per cent as migrant workers. Construction workers make up 12.63 per cent of those registered till now, and domestic workers make up 8.63 per cent
Another fact gleaned from the data is that a little more than 50 per cent registered till now are women, which officials explain as the result of the government’s schemes for agricultural workers and domestic workers. Nearly 60 per cent of the employed women in India are engaged in agriculture, as per the 2019-20 Periodic Labour Force Survey.
