MediaNama’s Take
Universal and portable social security is one of the major themes of the draft National Labour and Employment Policy, which proposes to create a universal account by integrating the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), e-Shram, and State welfare boards.
For decades, India’s social security architecture has been fragmented, leaving millions of gig, migrant, and informal workers outside the safety net. The proposed universal social security account could finally bridge this gap.
Yet, the road to universal social security is not without hurdles, and the draft national jobs policy leaves some questions unanswered. The eligibility criteria and scope of inclusion remain unclear. Will the universal social security account cover every worker, including all gig and platform workers, migrant workers, and those in non-formal jobs? Or are there any threshold criteria such as income or number of working hours? Will gig workers already enrolled on the e-Shram portal be required to re-register? In the past, lack of awareness, documentation hurdles, and limited internet access have prevented daily-wage workers from accessing government welfare schemes.
To realize its vision of a ‘One Nation Integrated Workforce’ ecosystem, the Centre aims to implement a unified Labour & Employment Stack integrating worker identities and enterprise databases. However, the draft policy lacks any mention of guardrails to protect data privacy or prevent digital identity theft and misuse of worker data, especially for systemically vulnerable gig workers. The government must also clarify whether any fallback option exists for workers without smartphones or digital literacy.
What’s the News?
On Wednesday (October 8), the Centre unveiled the draft National Labour and Employment Policy – Shram Shakti Niti 2025, aiming to create quality, tech-driven jobs amid widespread concern that job creation has not kept pace with India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 6.5–7%.
The Union Labour Ministry has sought public comments on the draft policy. Among the key objectives are:
- Creation of a Universal Social Security Account by integrating EPFO, ESIC, PM-JAY, e-Shram, and State welfare boards.
- Increasing women’s participation in India’s workforce to 35% by 2030 and expanding entrepreneurship and career guidance initiatives for youth.
- Offering a secure, interoperable platform linking workers, startups, and skilling institutions through open APIs and AI-driven tools. The government’s approach to this is the National Career Service (NCS), a state-driven portal for job listings, which will function as “India’s Digital Public Infrastructure for Employment.”
- Setting up a unified Labour & Employment Stack by integrating worker identities, enterprise databases, and skill credentials to enable data-driven…
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