Shram Shakti Niti 2025: Empowering India’s Workforce

Reviewing Shram Shakti Niti 2025

Syllabus

GS 2:

Government Policies and interventions

Why in the News?

Recently, the Government of India unveiled the draft Shram Shakti Niti 2025, claiming it as a “future-ready” labour policy. Critics argue it overlooks labour rights, digital exclusion, and modern slavery concerns, while also failing to adequately address environmental challenges such as greenhouse gas emissions and the need for clean energy transitions. The policy also lacks consideration for emerging environmental policies like emission trading and the voluntary carbon market (VCM).

Introduction

• India’s new Shram Shakti Niti 2025 promises a “future-ready” workforce rooted in ancient ethos, but fails to fully consider the implications of clean energy transitions and environmental impact assessments.
• However, behind this ambitious vision lies the harsh reality of modern slavery, forced labour, and informal employment.
• Unless implemented with strong safeguards and funding, this policy risks glorifying digital optimism while ignoring the fundamental rights of workers and the pressing need for sustainable development, including the implementation of carbon offset mechanisms.

Forced Labour and the Fragile Reality

• In July, investigations into forced labour in India’s eastern seafood industry revealed shocking exploitation.
• Hundreds of women worked long hours peeling fish without gloves, earning meagre wages after farming failures pushed them into industrial jobs.
• They were initially promised Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) and Provident Fund (PF) benefits but reclassified as “daily wagers” just a month before inspection.
• This deliberate reclassification stripped them of social security, showing how easily companies bypass worker rights.
• India now accounts for 11 million people in modern slavery, the world’s highest, reflecting the fragile legal protection available to its labourers.
• This grim reality formed the backdrop for Shram Shakti Niti 2025, which promises to reform the system but risks prioritising employer ease over worker welfare.

A Case of Employer Ease over Justice

• Since 2021, widespread reports across India’s steel factories, quarries, textile mills, and seafood plants show a similar pattern informal hiring through middlemen without contracts or benefits.
• These workers, paid off-record, are denied legal protection under formal labour laws.
• According to the International Labour Organization (ILO) 2024 report, 90% of India’s workforce remains informally employed.
• The policy, while promoting efficiency, risks flouting constitutional protections under Articles 14, 16, and 23 of the Indian Constitution, which guarantee equality, fair employment, and freedom from exploitation.
• Critics argue that the policy repackages labour deregulation in cultural terms, citing “ancient Indian ethos” from Manusmriti, while ignoring the present-day crises of exploitation and the need for sustainable development practices like sustainable forest management and participation in the emissions trading system.

Universal Social Security Account: Vision and Concerns

• A key feature of Shram Shakti Niti 2025 is the creation of a Universal Social Security Account (USSA).
• This system aims to merge multiple existing schemes — the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, e-SHRAM, and various State welfare boards.
• The objective is to provide lifelong health, pension, maternity, accident, and life insurance to all workers across sectors.
• This initiative aligns with Article 41 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to work and public assistance.
• However, the policy lacks clarity on funding.
• There are no mandatory contributions from gig employers or matching state funds, making the system financially weak.
• The e-SHRAM database, which serves as a base for informal workers, currently offers only minimal benefits and irregular payouts.
• In a nation where household literacy stands at just 38%, digital-only systems risk excluding women, elderly, and low-literacy workers, violating Article 15, which prohibits discrimination.
• Therefore, experts recommend offline access, tripartite funding, and union oversight to ensure inclusivity and alignment with nationally determined contributions for sustainable development, including participation in carbon market cooperation.

Occupational Safety and Health: Lofty Promises, Weak Execution

• The policy promises strict enforcement of the Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions Code (2020).
• It mentions periodic risk audits, gender-sensitive safety standards, and compliance with ILO Convention 155, which addresses workplace hazards and women’s care-role risks.
• Directive Article 42 mandates humane working conditions and maternity relief, which the policy claims to uphold.
• Yet the ground reality raises doubts:
• The government aims for “near-zero fatalities” by 2047, but with inspector shortages and weak penalties, this seems unrealistic.
• Over-reliance on digital monitoring tools excludes informal and contract workers.
• Gig workers’ mental health is ignored, while union powers are diluted weakening Article 19 guarantees of freedom of association.
• The policy fails to address the need for environmental impact assessments in new industries, potentially compromising worker safety and environmental sustainability, including the implementation of clean development mechanisms.

AI-Driven Job Matching: Promise and Pitfalls

• The policy proposes transforming the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE) into an employment facilitator using Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based job-matching tools.
• The National Career Service (NCS) will verify credentials, align skills, and connect workers with employers in Tier-II and Tier-III cities, especially targeting MSMEs.
• It also aims to bridge the 91.75% graduate skill mismatch by integrating with Skill India programs.
• However, this technology-driven model faces ethical challenges:
  • AI algorithms can reflect social biases, leading to caste and gender discrimination, violating Article 15.
  • The absence of AI ethics audits and worker unions’ participation risks reproducing inequality through automation.
  • Experts recommend union-vetted algorithms and periodic ethics audits to ensure fairness.
• The policy should consider including job opportunities in emerging sectors like the voluntary carbon market and carbon offset projects to promote sustainable employment.

Gender and Labour Participation Goals

• Shram Shakti Niti 2025 aims to increase female labour force participation from 33.7% to 35% by 2030.
• Strategies include affordable childcare, flexible gig work, equal pay, and apprenticeships for women.
• These align with ILO Convention 195 on gender equity and mobility, and Article 15‘s gender justice principle.
• However, challenges remain:
• Without quotas, penalties for non-compliance, and adequate maternity support, progress will be limited.
• Informal women workers still lack maternity benefits, and Dalit women face added discrimination that remains invisible due to poor caste-gender data.
• The policy must integrate union-led gender audits and intersectional data collection to achieve meaningful empowerment.

Green Tech, AI, and Just Transitions

• The policy’s green vision promotes AI-enhanced safety tools and reskilling programs for coal workers affected by the shift to clean energy, aligning with the need for clean energy transitions and participation in the emissions trading system.
• This aligns with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 on climate action and Article 21, which guarantees the right to livelihood.
• Yet, the “just transition” framework lacks depth:
• No mention of income support or union participation for displaced workers.
• Ignoring ILO Convention 29 (on forced labour) risks pushing workers into unsafe, low-paying green jobs.
• With 400 million informal workers, rural-AI gaps and urban-centric policies may worsen inequality.
• Experts urge tripartite funding and OECD-style safeguards to prevent an exploitative eco-transition that compromises dignity.
• The policy should consider promoting jobs in sustainable forest management and carbon offset projects as part of the green transition, while also exploring opportunities in carbon market linkage.

Digital Governance and Data Protection

• The policy mentions creating a Labour and Employment Policy Evaluation Index (LEPEI) dashboard to monitor progress.
• It links the National Education Policy with Digital India, promoting a data-driven governance approach.
• However, poor implementation of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act raises fears of worker surveillance and loss of Article 19 freedoms.
• Without strong data privacy mechanisms, digital governance could easily become digital exploitation.

Real Test: Dignity, Rights, and Justice

• Despite its ambitious language, Shram Shakti Niti 2025 risks being another rhetorical exercise unless backed by concrete funding, union participation, and institutional safeguards.
• For millions trapped in informal labour, success will depend not on digital dashboards but on restored dignity, rights, and justice.
• The 2025–2047 rollout must include rights audits, offline access, and transparent grievance systems to ensure accountability.
• Without these, it will remain symbolic rhetoric failing India’s labouring millions who deserve humane work and fair security.

Conclusion

Shram Shakti Niti 2025 holds the potential to transform India’s workforce. Yet without strong safeguards, inclusive funding, and labour representation, its promise of justice, dignity, and equality will remain a digital illusion for millions. The policy must also address environmental concerns, promote clean energy transitions, and create opportunities in sustainable sectors like the voluntary carbon market and carbon offset mechanisms to truly prepare India’s workforce for the future. Additionally, the policy should consider integrating emission trading and carbon market cooperation to align with global environmental goals and create new avenues for sustainable employment.

Source : The Hindu

Mains Practice Question

Discuss the role of digitalisation and artificial intelligence in shaping the future of employment under Shram Shakti Niti 2025, considering both labor rights and environmental sustainability, including the potential impact of emission trading and carbon offset mechanisms.