Key Terms & Concepts — UPSC Mains
e-Shram Portal
"The first-ever centralised national database of unorganised workers in India — launched on August 26, 2021 by the Ministry of Labour and Employment — providing a 12-digit Universal Account Number (UAN) and serving as the gateway to social security schemes for over 30 crore registered workers."
e-Shram is the National Database of Unorganised Workers (NDUW), an Aadhaar-seeded portal launched on August 26, 2021 by the Ministry of Labour and Employment. It is India's first comprehensive registry of the unorganised sector workforce, which constitutes approximately 90% of India's total workforce (~50 crore workers). Key features: (a) Each registered worker receives a 12-digit Universal Account Number (UAN) — a permanent, portable identifier valid across India; (b) An e-Shram card (physical/digital) is issued to all registrants; (c) Self-registration and Common Service Centre (CSC) registration are both supported; (d) Aadhaar OTP-based authentication; (e) Data captured includes name, date of birth, gender, occupation, education, skill, family details, and bank account. Eligibility: Any unorganised worker aged 16-59 years who is not an EPFO/ESIC member and not an income taxpayer. Categories include construction workers, migrant labourers, gig and platform workers, agricultural workers, domestic workers, street vendors, MGNREGA workers, fishermen, ASHA and Anganwadi workers, and home-based workers. Integration with welfare: e-Shram is being progressively integrated with welfare schemes — One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC), PM Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY ₹2 lakh accidental insurance), Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY (health insurance), PM Shram Yogi Maan-dhan (pension scheme), and various state-level welfare schemes. The Code on Social Security, 2020 (one of the four Labour Codes) provides the legislative framework for extending social security to unorganised, gig, and platform workers — with e-Shram serving as the enabling registry. As of early 2026, registrations on e-Shram have crossed 30 crore — making it among the largest worker databases globally. The portal is also being upgraded as 'eShram-One' — a single-window 'One-Stop Solution' integrating multiple worker schemes, launched in October 2024.
Critical for GS2 Governance (welfare delivery, DBT architecture, e-governance) and GS3 Economy (labour, informal sector, social security). Directly relevant to International Labour Day (May 1) coverage and the Code on Social Security 2020. Compares with the Japanese 'My Number' system and Estonia's e-Residency in scale of digital identity for welfare. Concerns include data privacy, exclusion of workers without Aadhaar/smartphones, and the gap between registration and actual benefit delivery.
- 1 Launched August 26, 2021 by Ministry of Labour and Employment
- 2 First-ever NATIONAL DATABASE of unorganised workers (NDUW)
- 3 12-digit Universal Account Number (UAN) — permanent, portable
- 4 Eligibility: 16-59 years; non-EPFO/ESIC; non-income-tax-payer
- 5 30+ crore registrations by early 2026
- 6 Integrated with PMSBY (₹2 lakh accidental insurance), PM-JAY, PM-SYM
- 7 Aadhaar OTP-based authentication
- 8 eShram-One launched October 2024 as One-Stop Solution
- 9 Foundation for Code on Social Security 2020 unorganised worker provisions
On International Labour Day (May 1, 2026), the Ministry of Labour and Employment marked the e-Shram portal crossing 30 crore registrations — covering construction workers, gig and platform workers, ASHAs, fisherfolk, and domestic workers. The portal's integration with PMSBY has enabled automatic ₹2 lakh accidental insurance enrolment for tens of crores of unorganised workers — a scale of social security delivery previously thought administratively impossible.
