The Question is... Why Are Social Security Schemes Not Reaching India’s Most Vulnerable?
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Dear Reader,
At the International Labour Conference held in June 2024, the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment showcased the e-Shram portal as a ‘one-stop solution’ for India’s informal workforce, including gig workers.
This caught my attention because, despite The Quint's in-depth focus on India's job market, the portal was never talked about by workers as making their lives better.
Essentially, e-Shram maintains a national database of all informal workers and guarantees them social security. But, as I dug deeper — and spent weeks meeting with and talking to workers across India, I realised the ground reality was very different.
I came across glaring cases of informal workers who had lost their lives at their workplace, but their families were yet to receive even a single rupee. Like Pujari Suresh, a gig worker in Hyderabad, who died after his taxi met with an accident in November 2021. Or Iliyas Shekhlal Shaikh, a construction worker in Maharashtra, who passed away due to electrocution in March 2024. Both Suresh and Shaikh were e-Shram cardholders — and their lives were insured under the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) that promises Rs 2 lakh for accidental deaths.
So, the question is... How is e-Shram then helping India's informal workers and their families?
It gets worse. Despite the e-Shram portal listing at least 12 other social security schemes, the only scheme currently linked to e-Shram after three years of its inception is the accidental death insurance scheme.
When I sought more information through a Right to Information (RTI) filing, I found out that between August 2021 and 2024, only 391 people have actually benefitted from the accidental death insurance scheme. This is out of the nearly 30.10 crore workers registered on the portal.
Is it to say only 391 workers lost their lives at their workplace in the last three years? Of course not. This number is highly underestimated.
The question is... When will the workers dependent on e-Shram start seeing benefits?
The problem with the portal, however, goes beyond just compensation. In my in-depth report, I write about how e-Shram remains a maze for the informal workforce thanks to its limited reach, digital inaccessibility, and lack of clarity over social security benefits. Read the full report HERE.
Apart from the lack of social security benefits for informal workers, layoffs, increasing wage gaps, and exploitative work practices point to one thing — a burgeoning Naukri Crisis in India.
We at The Quint want to continue to report aggressively on this crisis, but we need your help. Support our coverage to bring you the all-important investigations and in-depth ground reports by becoming a member NOW.
We also want to hear from you — whether you're a recent graduate or an industry veteran affected by India's job crisis. Write to us at myreport@thequint.com or WhatsApp us at +919999008335 — and help us bring your story to the world.
Thank you,
VARSHA SRIRAM
Senior Correspondent
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