e-Shram and India’s Digital Social Security Challenge

E-SHRAM AND THE CHALLENGE OF DIGITAL SOCIAL SECURITY

Syllabus:

GS-2: Government Policies & Interventions

WHY IN THE NEWS

  • Registration Barriers: A recent experiment by law students found that e-Shram self-registration can be difficult because of OTP, CAPTCHA, occupation and documentation hurdles.
  • Worker Coverage: The portal has crossed 9 crore registrations, but questions remain about whether dispersed gig and platform workers can independently enrol.
  • Legal Context: The Code on Social Security, 2020, enforced in November 2025, provides a framework for social-security coverage of gig, platform and unorganised workers.
  • Digital Inclusion: The issue highlights the gap between creating a national digital database and ensuring accessible, multilingual and worker-friendly social-security delivery.

e-Shram and India’s Digital Social Security Challenge

E-SHRAM PORTAL AND ITS SOCIAL-SECURITY ARCHITECTURE

  • National Database: e-Shram, launched in August 2021, creates the National Database of Unorganised Workers, covering migrant, construction, gig and platform workers.
  • Worker Identity: Registered workers receive a 12-digit Universal Account Number, enabling a portable identity for accessing social-security and welfare benefits across locations.
  • Registration Process: The system uses Aadhaar-based identification, mobile authentication and self-declaration, attempting to simplify registration for informal workers.
  • Registration Scale: The portal had issued more than 93 crore e-Shram cards by September 2026, demonstrating its enormous potential for welfare targeting.
  • Institutional Network: Ministry of Labour and Employment, NIC, UIDAI, CSCs, ESIC and EPFO are among the institutions associated with the e-Shram ecosystem.

UNDERSTANDING CODE ON SOCIAL SECURITY AND UNORGANISED WORKERS:

●      Code Framework: The Code on Social Security, 2020 consolidates multiple social-security laws and expands the statutory framework to previously less-protected categories of workers.

●      Worker Categories: It distinguishes unorganised workers, gig workers and platform workers, recognising changing employment relationships within India’s labour market.

●      Social Security: The framework envisages schemes covering health, maternity, disability, accident, life insurance and old-age protection, subject to notified schemes and eligibility conditions.

●      Social Fund: A dedicated framework permits creation and financing of social-security arrangements through government funding and aggregator contributions, among other permitted sources.

●      Registration Principle: The rules combine self-registration with aggregator responsibilities, indicating that social-security access should increasingly become a shared institutional responsibility rather than an individual burden alone.

GIG WORKERS AND THE NEW LABOUR-CODE FRAMEWORK

  • Legal Recognition: The Code on Social Security, 2020 formally recognises gig workers and platform workers, marking an important departure from traditional employer-employee frameworks.
  • Social Protection: The Code provides for schemes concerning life and disability cover, accident insurance, health, maternity benefits and old-age protection for eligible gig and platform workers.
  • Aggregator Contribution: The Code permits aggregator contributions to social-security schemes, with the contribution framework linked to 1–2% of annual turnover, subject to a ceiling related to payments made to workers.
  • Mandatory Registration: The 2026 rules require eligible gig and platform workers to register through the designated portal while also requiring aggregators to share worker details with the government.
  • Universal Coverage: The framework seeks to make social-security benefits more portable across employments and States, an important requirement for mobile and migrant workers.

DIGITAL EXCLUSION AND DESIGN BARRIERS

  • Authentication Problem: OTP dependence can exclude workers when Aadhaar-linked mobile numbers belong to relatives or remain inaccessible during migration.
  • Captcha Barrier: Repeated CAPTCHA failures and technical loops can make self-registration practically impossible for workers lacking digital literacy or immediate assistance.
  • Occupation Mismatch: Rigid occupational classifications may fail to capture workers combining agricultural, construction, domestic and platform-based livelihoods.
  • Access Burden: Requiring workers to visit Common Service Centres can impose additional time and opportunity costs, particularly on workers whose earnings depend on daily activity.
  • Design Principle: Digital welfare platforms should follow user-centric design, recognising that technological simplicity for administrators may not translate into accessibility for vulnerable beneficiaries.

LANGUAGE, DATA AND FEDERAL DIMENSIONS

  • Multilingual Access: The current e-Shram website provides access across numerous Indian languages, although the article’s reported registration experience highlights continuing challenges within specific workflows.
  • Bhashini Integration: Digital India Bhashini has been incorporated into the ecosystem, although the portal itself cautions users about possible discrepancies in machine-translated content.
  • Data Consent: The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 requires consent notices to be presented in clear language with access in English or Eighth Schedule languages, making accessibility an important data-governance concern.
  • Federal Coordination: Migrant workers frequently cross State boundaries, making interoperable databases and portable welfare entitlements essential for preventing exclusion.
  • Privacy Protection: Large-scale collection of Aadhaar, contact, occupational and engagement information requires purpose limitation, data minimisation, security safeguards and informed consent.

WHY SELF-REGISTRATION MATTERS FOR PLATFORM WORKERS

  • Spatial Dispersion: Platform workers operate across dispersed locations rather than conventional workplaces, eliminating the possibility of relying on a common workplace for assistance.
  • Information Asymmetry: Workers may not understand eligibility rules, documentation requirements or the relationship between e-Shram registration and welfare schemes.
  • Digital Divide: Smartphone ownership alone does not guarantee digital inclusion because language barriers, digital literacy, connectivity and authentication problems remain significant.
  • Economic Cost: A failed online registration can translate into lost working time when workers must repeatedly seek assistance from service centres or intermediaries.
  • Gender Dimension: Women working as domestic workers, home-based workers or platform participants may face additional constraints from device access, mobility and digital literacy.

REFORMING E-SHRAM FOR INCLUSIVE SOCIAL SECURITY

  • Assisted Registration: Make aggregator-assisted and worker-assisted registration the default complement to self-registration, rather than placing disproportionate responsibility upon workers.
  • Simplified Interface: Redesign registration around plain-language forms, intuitive occupational categories, accessible CAPTCHAs and robust OTP alternatives.
  • Language Inclusion: Ensure complete functionality, not merely translated webpages, across Eighth Schedule languages and major regional linguistic contexts.
  • Portable Benefits: Integrate e-Shram with relevant welfare databases while maintaining strong safeguards so workers can access benefits after inter-State migration.
  • Accountability Mechanism: Establish transparent grievance redressal, audit trails and periodic usability audits, with worker representatives participating in platform redesign.

CONCLUSION:

e-Shram represents an important attempt to create a portable social-security architecture for India’s vast informal workforce. However, the success of digital welfare depends not merely on registration numbers but on genuine accessibility. A worker-centric system must combine technology, assisted access, multilingual design, privacy and accountable institutions to make inclusion substantive.

Source: Mint

MAINS PRACTICE QUESTION:

India’s expanding digital welfare architecture can improve social-security portability for gig and unorganised workers, but digital exclusion may undermine its objectives. Critically examine the challenges associated with e-Shram and suggest measures to make digital social-security delivery more inclusive. (15 marks, 250 words)