IE Thinc Migration series: ‘E-Shram needs social security linkages’

One of the major aims of e-Shram is to provide social security benefits and much-needed help to the vulnerable labour force during calamities. By comparing the permanent and present address fields of all registered or unorganised workers in the e-Shram database, we can identify and track the migrant. We have sent SMSes to registered workers , requesting them to update their present address field along with any other occupation or demographic detail which may have changed.

We are also in the process of integrating e-Shram with the “one nation, one ration card” scheme of the Department of Food and Public Distribution based on the location data of monthly foodgrain collections. To ensure the location of the worker is not a hindrance to accessing social security benefits, we are in the process of integrating the e-Shram database with various state governments and their respective labour departments. Second, the e-Shram platform will share all relevant and shareable data with the state governments in a dynamic way through API-based integration. Based on the migrant worker’s home state and the state he migrated to, the relevant data of each worker shall be shared. Each state government may be able to provide benefits designed for each occupation or income category. Benefits of Central schemes can also be accessed.

We have given a unique identity to each of the unorganised workers in terms of a universal account number that will be acceptable, recognised and shall be unique throughout their lifetime.

On status of e-Shram

Chandan Kumar: E-Shram data says there are 27.5 crore workers. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has set down nine indicators of social security — medical benefits, sickness, unemployment, old age, employment injury, family, maternity, invalidity and survivor benefits. A lot of people are not aware but India has already achieved it through schemes by the EPFO (Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation) and ESIC (Employee State Insurance Corporations). The bouquet of benefits which the Government is offering under e-Shram — Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan Yojana, Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, Atal Pension Yojana — covers these social security indicators in bits and pieces, which is what I would call a very charity-led approach instead of rights. The Government should have been implementing the social security programme that came from the workers’ movement, the very strong trade union movement. Most of these social security programmes are for those workers who can contribute some money. If you see the recent CMIE data or PLFS data, there’s a huge unemployment rate.

On social security map

Divya Varma: The e-Shram really seeks to address a critical gap in data and estimates. There are several progressive features, one of them being self-registration. Now any informal worker can declare he/she is such without furnishing proof or employment certificate because that’s precisely what makes him/her an informal worker. There are also thoughtfully designed common service centres for workers to register themselves. But there are very structural and basic fundamental critiques of the design and architecture of e-Shram. It’s not backed up by statutory legislation; it’s not a legally mandated entitlement that the workers can then hold the state and the employers accountable for. This means that informal workers are already quite disempowered and do not really have any means of ensuring a guaranteed registration or access to social protection through e-Shram. It’s a very sub-optimal design for inclusion. Then there’s the digital divide that requires mediation. The social security code introduced in the Parliament has not yet been fully implemented and maintains the dichotomy between informal and formal workers. So, if an informal worker is employed in an enterprise with less than 10 labourers, then the employers are not mandated to give them access to ESIC or PF. But e-Shram does not do anything to route these employer-mandated provisions through these registrations.

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It only offers a very fragmented insurance policy and medical benefits that do not seek to establish the employer-employee relationship in this case. The linkage between one-nation-one-ration card and e-Shram is a promising step but still far. Similarly, the Interstate Migrant Workmen Act also calls for registration when workers move from one state to another. How will this change?

On field experiences

Ashif Shaikh: How can we connect the worker through the e-Shram portal with social security benefits? We realised that if the portal can add multiple social security benefits, it can create a single-window system for the migrant population as well as unorganised workers. The second issue is the utilisation of BOCW (Building and Other Construction Welfare) funds. We need to link them as well.

On challenges in execution

Sanjay Awasthi: E-Shram is an excellent example of a much-needed harmonisation to capture the granularity of the migration process. The portal has so far registered over 400 occupations, so it can help bridge the supply and demand gap. The linking with the e-Migrate portal is commendable. But with the ever-increasing contribution of women — 68 per cent of these workers are women — we need to have a much better understanding of their needs.

On e-voting rights

Govindraj Ethiraj: The important question is linking the portal to more services, benefits and database points, including the private sector. I think the question of how do we use this database to find out who has the right skills for what is a very critical input. That increases visibility in a job creation system. But we will have to solve the jobs problem even as we make sure that there is a safety net for the unorganised sector worker.

If you have technology and the ability to authenticate remotely, then why not introduce voting as well. If you bring in voting, you bring in the right to social security benefits.

On actionable priorities now

Chandan Kumar: If you really want to give something to the 27 crore workers on whom you have data, let’s start with ESIC. Can e-Shram be linked to labour law reform? The Government has increased the threshold of an inter-state migrant worker from five to 10 workers. Similarly, if you read the Industrial Disputes Act, the threshold is 300. Data is not the question. Do you have the political will to give rights to these informal workers who contribute 60 per cent of the GDP?

Divya Varma: We need to mandate the participation of industry and employers in enrolling their informal, temporary and casual workers.  Routing benefits through the e-Shram registration route will make a huge difference in formalising labour. Right now, people don’t trust the information about the benefits of e-Shram. An awareness drive is needed.

Ashif Shaikh: Currently, our system is not very compatible with social security schemes and we have thousands of them. The portal should be a single-window system for the unorganised and migrant worker. We need facilitation support because all workers cannot independently use technology. This issue is related to the dignity and respect of the worker.

Sanjay Awasthi: Focus on women’s needs and problems. Attend to the vulnerabilities of migrant workers in states where they are mainly concentrated, especially the inter-state ones. Involve the private sector.