The e-Shram portal completed five years on 26 August 2026, with over 31.89 crore unorganised workers registered on the platform, according to the latest official factsheet. Launched on 26 August 2021, the portal was initially created as India's first Aadhaar-seeded National Database of Unorganised Workers by the Ministry of Labour and Employment in collaboration with the National Informatics Centre (NIC). As of 18 August 2026, the portal had recorded 31.89 crore registrations, demonstrating significant growth in worker participation over the past five years. The Ministry of Labour and Employment has flagged this milestone as a key step in extending social security coverage to India's unorganised workforce, with the database supporting the formulation and implementation of suitable social security and welfare measures for such workers. The e-Shram Portal was introduced on 26 August 2021 with the aim of establishing a national database of the unorganised workers, providing the registered worker with an unique 12-digit Universal Account Number (UAN) and facilitating welfare delivery while assisting governments in recognising workers who could benefit from social security schemes.
According to the latest official data, women account for 54.28% of registered workers, compared with 45.72% for men. The age profile shows 55.21% aged 18–40 years, 24.18% aged 40–50 years and 20.53% above 50 years. Agriculture, domestic and household work, construction, and apparel are among the occupational categories with the highest registrations. The platform covers workers such as agricultural and construction workers, domestic workers, street vendors, migrant workers, self-employed and wage workers, gig and platform workers, and other workers in the unorganised sector. The portal now records family details of migrant workers, enabling better tracking of dependents and facilitating data sharing with state and UT governments to support last-mile delivery of benefits. Around 11.5 lakh platform workers have registered so far, with the database specifically designed to support social security and welfare measures for gig and platform workers, helping policymakers design schemes for this emerging class of workers.
The portal has evolved beyond simply maintaining a database through the 'e-Shram One-Stop Solution' launched on 21 October 2024, which covers 15 welfare and employment-related services. Key schemes linked include the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) providing ₹2 lakh for accidental death or permanent disability and ₹1 lakh for partial disability, and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) offering ₹2 lakh life insurance cover. The platform also connects workers with Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-Dhan Yojana (PM-SYM) providing a minimum assured pension of ₹3,000 per month after attaining 60 years, National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP), Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana–Gramin (PMAY-G), and One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC). Since its expansion, the portal has enabled access to 15 social security and welfare schemes through one interface, along with the PM-SYM pension scheme, with registered workers able to conveniently enrol in these schemes through the eShram portal. The platform also connects workers to various financial services, insurance and employment-related services, including the National Career Service (NCS) and the Skill India Digital Hub for employment and skilling programmes respectively.
Workers can register through the e-Shram portal, nearby Common Service Centre (CSC), or State Seva Kendra, with government field officers facilitating registration at district and sub-district levels. Most registrations have been completed through Common Service Centres (CSCs), followed by self-registration. The basic requirements include Aadhaar number for e-KYC and mobile number, preferably linked to Aadhaar. As reported by Mint, there is no registration fee for the service. Eligible workers must be 16 years or older, engaged in the unorganised sector, not be income-tax payers, not be members of EPFO or ESIC, and not be government employees. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra have recorded the highest registrations, indicating strong adoption across these states. The portal has been upgraded to offer multilingual support in 22 languages through the Bhashini platform in 2025, introduced in 2025, widening its accessibility across states and supporting better portability of welfare entitlements. 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.
The platform has gradually expanded from a worker database into a broader service-delivery platform, with multilingual functionality in 22 languages added in 2025 through the Bhashini platform. An e-Shram card is not itself an insurance policy, pension account, or direct cash benefit, but acts as a digital identity and gateway to various government schemes. The portal creates an Aadhaar-authenticated record and provides a 12-digit Universal Account Number (UAN) to each registered worker, serving as a comprehensive digital identity solution for unorganised sector workers. The platform allows different government departments to share the relevant details of the workers via secure APIs, helping in better implementation of welfare schemes and making data-driven policies. The portal can even assist in planning for assistance during emergencies or crisis. The e-Shram Portal has laid a strong foundation for an inclusive and technology-enabled social security ecosystem, enabling more targeted and transparent delivery of government support by creating a nationwide digital identity and database for unorganised workers. Using the myScheme platform, workers can know about the government schemes available for them, making the process of navigation of different government welfare schemes much easier using just one platform.
