The database is likely to be operational in August, the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment informed Parliament
The Covid-19 pandemic exposed the issues of migrant workers and the vulnerability of their livelihood. Most of them work in unorganised sectors, which do not have any liability to protect their social security.
The last year’s migrant crisis during the lockdown prompted the Narendra Modi government to announce a database of migrant workers.
It will have sector-wise details of the unorganised workers, including construction workers, migrant workers, gig and platform workers, street vendors, and domestic, agriculture and migrant workers. It would also have other sub-groups of unorganised workers
The database is likely to be operational in August, the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment informed Parliament recently.
Following are the salient features of the database:
1. It will have sector-wise details of the unorganised workers, including construction workers, migrant workers, gig and platform workers, street vendors, and domestic, agriculture and migrant workers. It would also have other sub-groups of unorganised workers.
2. The database will have details of the different social sector and welfare schemes run by the Centre and states targeting those in the unorganised sector.
3. With this the workers will be able to get the benefits of the government programmes by registering online and selecting the benefits.
India has a vast majority of workers in the informal sector. Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) finds 90 per cent of workers in the informal sector. It means that out of 465 million workers, 419 million are in the informal sector.
In a written reply in Rajya Sabha to Congress members’ question, Rameshwar Teli, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, said the dry run and security audit of the database was underway.