Is the e-Shram card free? Know the answer

The e-Shram card was launched on August 26, 2021, by the ministry of labour and employment of the Government of India for the welfare of unorganised sector workers. As per the SBI, these unorganised workers in the country accounts for around 93%, and that is a huge percentage to be taken care of. Initially, the central government wants to register 380 million unorganised sector workers in the e-Shram scheme via the e-Shram portal.

The scheme's prime focus was to keep an organised database of informal sector works and do welfare works for them. The e-Shram portal is maintained by the National of Unorganised Workers under the supervision of the Ministry of Labour and Employment. Employees in the agriculture industry accounted for roughly 53% of those who had registered by November 25, followed by workers in the industrial sector (13%), and construction workers (12%). According to PLFS (Periodic Labour Force Surveys) 2019-20, the three major employers are agriculture, construction, and manufacturing. So far, a large number of household employees have registered with e-Shram. However, except for health workers, registration of employees in all other sectors has behind their sector's percentage of the overall employment thus far.

Any worker in the informal sector between the ages of 16 and 59 can register themselves on the portal. Workers will receive a Universal Account Number (UAN) card after registering on the e-Shram portal. Workers must have an Aadhaar-linked mobile number and a bank account in order to enrol. In the case of workers who don't have an Aadhaar-linked mobile number, can register through biometric authentication at the nearest CSC (Common Service Centre).

Since its launch, there have been several uncleared questions around the card such as registration, eligibility criteria, and charges. As per eshram.gov.in, to avail of the e-Shram card you need to fulfil the criteria mentioned on the website such as age group, background, income and other few details. The card is free for all, however, to update the data on the card it will cost Rs 20.

The mandated use of Aadhaar-linked cell numbers, sluggish servers, language barriers, are proving barriers to self-registration as most of the workers lack the knowledge and understanding of technology. By planting e-Shram with Aadhaar, the government hopes to allow the optimum realisation of workers' and enable them to utilise advantages of government programmes launched by the government of India.