As many as 136,853 workers in the unorganised sector have registered on the e-shram portal in just two hours of its launch on Thursday. The portal will carry a database of these workers so that welfare schemes of the union and state governments can be provided to each of them. Industry said the move will ensure formalisation of the workforce.

       After unveiling the portal, labour and employment minister Bhupender Yadav said there are estimated 380 million workers in the unorganised sector and the portal was launched to provide benefits of the welfare schemes to every worker.

       Labour and employment secretary Apurva Chandra said three million workers would soon register on the portal.

       There are varying estimates of the number of unorganised workers. According to the Economic Survey (2018-19), 93 per cent of the total workforce in India is in the unorganised sector. According to an estimate, the total workforce in the country is 450 million. Ninety-three per cent of this works out to 418.5 million.

       The government aims to register all workers in the unorganised sector on the e-shram portal, officials said.

       Those registered on the portal would be given an accident insurance cover of Rs two lakh on death or permanent disability and Rs one lakh in case of partial disability.

       The minister said the government should have a database of all workers in the unorganised sector to provide them benefits of various schemes, particularly during the situation like corona.

       Yadav said the registration process was made simple so that every worker is covered. He informed that up to four workers can register through one mobile handset. "Those who don't have mobile handsets can go to the nearest centre and get themselves registered by giving even thumb impressions, '' he said.

       Since migrant workers keep changing their economic activities, their registration could be updated through just SMS, the minister said.

       The minister said various trade unions were consulted before launching the portal. The union leaders wanted to know whether various sectoral schemes would be merged into one. Yadav responded saying no scheme would be merged. The aim of having a database is to ensure that benefits of schemes reach every labourer, he said.

       Confederation of Indian Industry director general Chandrajit Banerjee said building a national database on unorganised workers is central to the effort towards formalisation of the workforce. "Taken together with the reform of labour laws through the four labour codes, this measure represents a major turning point in the labour environment of the country," he said.

       Yadav emphasised on cooperative federalism for making last mile delivery of the schemes.

       The secretary said data is being shared with the state governments.

       Rs 404 crore was budgeted for the portal for a period of five years.

       The portal will have a database of all kinds of workers in the unorganised sector. These workers are of many kinds such as migrant workforce, street vendors, domestic workers. The portal will also have a database on gig and platform workers. For this purpose, the labour minister had launched the logo of the portal on Tuesday.

       As part of the process, the workers will be issued an e-SHRAM card containing a 12 digit unique number. A worker can register using his Aadhaar card number and bank account details, apart from filling other necessary details like date of birth, home town, mobile number, and social category, they said.

       Minister of state for labour and employment Rameswar Teli said the card will be valid across India in line with the one nation one ration card scheme.