TRANSFORMATIVE REFORMS FOR WORKERS

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Ministry of Labour & Employment TRANSFORMATIVE REFORMS FOR WORKERS Posted On: 07 AUG 2025 4:19PM by PIB Delhi The Ministry of Labour & Employment implements Central Sector Schemes, which are pan-India in nature. The details of beneficiaries count under various labour welfare schemes for the period from 2015-16 to 2024- 25 are as under: Total number of Beneficiaries under Labour Welfare Scheme Health Housing Education 16171611 84160 2292702 Further, the Government of India has formulated the Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act (UWSS), 2008 which provides for, inter alia, formulating welfare schemes for the unorganized sector on matters relating to i. Life and disability cover, ii. Health and maternity benefits, iii. Old age protection and iv. Any other benefit as may be determined by the Central Government. The Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan (PM-SYM) scheme was launched in March, 2019 in order to provide old age protection to the workers of the unorganised sector. This is a voluntary and contributory pension scheme. Under the scheme, a monthly minimum assured pension of Rs. 3000/- is provided to the unorganised workers after attaining the age of 60 years. The workers in the age group of 18-40 years whose monthly income is Rs. 15000/- or less and not members of EPFO/ESIC/NPS (Government funded) or not income tax payees are eligible to join the scheme. The monthly contribution by the beneficiary ranges from Rs. 55/- to Rs. 200/- depending upon the entry age of the beneficiary. Under the scheme, an equal matching contribution is paid by the Central Government. Enrolment in the Scheme is done through the Common Service Centres, with its network of about 4 lakh centres across the country. Eligible unorganised workers can also self-enrol by visiting the portal www.maandhan.in. The initiatives like e-Shram Portal and Shram Suvidha Portal have played an important role in improving efficiency, reducing delays and enhancing workers’ access and transparency in the following manner: The Shram Suvidha Portal (SSP) was launched on 16th October, 2014. The portal caters to four major organizations of the Ministry of Labour & Employment, inter alia including EPFO & ESIC. Through the SSP, a unique Labour Identification Number (LIN) is generated online for businesses and employers registered on the portal. The portal has eased the complexity of compliance by providing the facilities of online registration, license and return filing to business entities along with a randomised risk-based inspection system, thereby reducing subjectivity for the law implementing agencies. The Ministry of Labour and Employment launched the e-Shram portal (eshram.gov.in) on 26th August, 2021 for the creation of a comprehensive National Database of Unorganised Workers (NDUW) seeded with Aadhaar. The e-Shram portal is meant to register and support the unorganised workers by providing them with a Universal Account Number (UAN) on a self-declaration basis. Major schemes of the Ministry of Labour and Employment providing social security and implemented through EPFO are as under: 1. Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana (ABRY): The Central Government implemented the ABRY from 01.10.2020 to 31.03.2022 to incentivize the creation of new employment opportunities during the COVID-19 recovery phase by providing assistance to the employers of establishments registered with EPFO to recruit unemployed persons including re-employment of those who were rendered un-employed during the Pandemic. The total number of beneficiaries under ABRY is 6049287. 2. Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana (PMRPY): The scheme was designed to incentivise employers for the generation of new employment. The scheme had been made applicable from 01.04.2016 to 31.03.2019 (Benefits for registered employees are continued for three years from the date of joining i.e., till closure of Scheme: 31.03.2022). The total number of beneficiaries under PMRPY is 12270966. 3. Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY): The scheme was announced initially under the PM Garib Kalyan Package from March 2020 to May 2020. It was later extended under Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan 1.0 for three months from June to August 2020. Under the Scheme, the Central Government paid the employees’ and employers’ share of EPF & EPS contributions (24% of wages) for the Scheme period. It was aimed at preventing disruption in the employment of low wage-earning EPFO members in EPF covered establishments that were employing up to a hundred employees. The total number of beneficiaries under PMGKY is 3891968. Further, the scheme providing social security and implemented through ESIC are as under – The ESI Act applies to factories employing 10 or more employees. At present, the wage ceiling for coverage for an employee is Rs. 21000/month (Rs.25000/month for PWD employee). In accordance with Section 1 (3) of the ESI Act, the ESI Scheme is extended by the Central Government in a phased manner depending on industrial concentration and availability of the infrastructure for the administration of medical benefits. As on 30.07.2025, the status of implementation of the ESI Scheme is as under: Implementation Status No. of Districts Districts Notified 695 Fully Notified 602 Partially Notified 93 Non-notified 83 Total Districts 778 In the year 2014, the Scheme was implemented in 393 districts of the country, which now extends to 695 districts. The number of workers brought under the coverage of the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) during the five-year period from 2020-21 to 2024-25 is 174484600. This information was given by the Minister of State for Labour and Employment Sushri Shobha Karandlaje in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today. ***** Rini Choudhury (Release ID: 2153616)