e-Shram Portal Completes 5 Years: 31.89 Crore Workers Registered, Key Features and Benefits

The e-Shram portal will complete five years on 26 August 2026, which is quite an important milestone in the journey of India towards making social security systems strong for the workers of the unorganized sector. The e-Shram portal was launched by the Ministry of Labour and Employment in 2021 to make India’s first Aadhaar based National Database of Unorganized Workers (NDUW).

The portal which started as a registration portal for workers became a more comprehensive digital portal for various welfare schemes related to social security, employment, skilling, apprenticeship, and pension. Till August 2026, 31.89 crore workers have registered themselves on the portal.

What is the e-Shram Portal?

The e-Shram Portal was introduced on 26 August 2021 with the aim of establishing a national database of the unorganised workers. It is a product of National Informatics Centre (NIC) and provides the registered worker with an unique 12-digit Universal Account Number (UAN).

The system aims at facilitating welfare delivery while also assisting the governments in recognising workers who could benefit from social security schemes. It also supports the portability of benefits for migrant and construction workers, who might need to change locations.

Unorganised workforce encompasses agricultural workers, construction workers, domestic workers, street vendors, migrant workers, self-employed workers and gig and platform workers, amongst others.

Why was e-Shram introduced?

One of the primary reasons behind introducing the e-Shram system is to facilitate a common digital database of India’s large and varied unorganised workforce.

The portal allows different government departments to share the relevant details of the workers via secure APIs which helps in better implementation of welfare schemes and making data-driven policies. The portal can even assist in planning for assistance during emergencies or crisis.

e-Shram Becomes a One-Stop Solution

The platform saw a huge boost in scope with the introduction of the e-Shram One-Stop Solution launched on 21 October 2024. It now does much more than just register workers. The platform connects workers to a larger range of government services.

The one-stop solution comprises of 15 social security and welfare schemes including Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-Dhan Yojana (PM-SYM), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP), One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) and Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G).

The portal allows workers to look at the schemes they are eligible for and check the benefits they have already availed, thus making the process of navigation of different government welfare schemes much easier using just one platform.

Financial Services, Insurance and Employment Services

e-Shram also connects workers to various financial services, insurance and employment-related services.

Using the portal, eligible workers can register themselves under PMSBY, which provides accidental insurance of ₹2 lakh in case of accidental death or permanent disability and ₹1 lakh for partial disability. In addition, workers can enrol under PMJJBY which provides life insurance of ₹2 lakh in case of death due to any reason.

The portal also connects workers to the National Career Service (NCS) and the Skill India Digital Hub for employment and skilling and apprenticeship related programmes respectively. Moreover, using the myScheme platform, the workers can know about the government schemes available for them.

Eligible workers under PM-SYM will get a minimum assured pension of ₹3,000 per month once they reach 60 years of age, as per the terms of the scheme.

Expansion of Services to Migrant and Gig Workers

One of the unique features of this platform is its capability to capture details of the family members of the migrant workers. The platform also helps in transferring construction worker data to States and UTs for their registration under the respective Building and Other Construction Workers (BOCW) Board.

Moreover, this platform now includes the gig and platform workers, another rapidly growing segment of the workforce in India. Approximately 11.5 lakh platform workers were registered on the e-Shram portal till August 2026.

The database would help the policymakers in designing social security and welfare schemes for this emerging class of workers.

Eligibility and Registration for e-Shram Scheme

Registration on e-Shram Portal is one-time and free.

Workers aged above 16 years, working in the unorganised sector and who are not income-tax payers and EPFO or ESIC members, are eligible to register.

Workers can register themselves via the official portal of e-Shram or may approach a CSC/State Seva Kendra to get help. State government officials help workers in registering at the district and sub-district level.

To register oneself, one needs to have their Aadhaar number for eKYC and mobile number, preferably linked to the Aadhaar number.

Numbers Behind e-Shram Portal

The capacity of the platform has seen a major increase over the last five years. As of August 2026, the portal has recorded 31.89 crore registrations.

Female workers form the majority of the registered workers, as compared to male workers, with their share standing at 54.28%, while that of male workers stands at 45.72%. The age group 18-40 has been the maximum age group among the registered workers, with their share standing at 55.21%.

Occupational categories include agriculture, domestic and household work, construction, and apparel. The states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra have seen the highest registrations till date.

Common Service Centres have been the most popular choice for workers to register themselves.

Multilingual and Digital Reaches of e-Shram

In order to enhance accessibility of the platform in the various linguistic environment in India, multilingual capabilities were implemented in 22 languages through the Bhashini platform in 2025.

This would be especially important for such an initiative that seeks to connect with workers across rural and urban India who might find access to digital services a challenge.