Experts say database of unorganised workers will ensure benefits reach beneficiaries

Representative image (REUTERS/Amit Dave)

Experts have lauded the labour ministry’s reported decision to roll out the National Database of Unorganised Workers by July end, saying it would be a landmark move that would ensure that government schemes reach the intended beneficiaries.

The launch of the database comes more than a year after millions of unorganised workers left their workplaces in the cities and headed to their hometowns after a national lockdown was imposed in March last year to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

“The database will go a long way in providing benefits to the millions of workers in the unorganised sector who work in low-paid jobs with no social security at all,” said a Senior Research Fellow from a Delhi based think tank on the condition of anonymity. “In the absence of data, it would be impossible to create targeted policies and the database would help the government understand the size of the informal workforce in India.”

According to Prashant Singh, Vice President and Business Head-Compliance and Payroll Outsourcing, TeamLease Service, the data base will provide the count of migrant labours in every state  and help the government to analyze the employment opportunity available in the state and to plan the skill developments within the state.

He however added, "As per our knowledge, only the Delhi NCT and Haryana State governments initiated the activity to collect the migrant labour details from the companies situated within the state. This activity is also in the initial stage of collecting the information. There is no concrete action by the other state governments to collect the migrant labour who works in the state."

The Central's quote of Informal Workers, may also be focusing on Gig and Platform workers. As per the data base collected from the employers of gig and platform work providing employers  such as Ola, Uber, Zomato, Swiggy & more) the central may publish the Informal Worker information in upcoming days, Singh said.

The profiles of informal workers on the database will be seeded with the 12-digit Aadhaar numbers and bank accounts in order to deliver benefits to them.

The Supreme Court of India had directed the government in June to set up a national database for unorganised and migrant workers by July and ensure that they receive adequate food and rations. Justices Ashok Bhushan and MR Shah had emphasised the need for registration of workers as a prerequisite to access social protection.

A strong case for the creation of a database emerged after migrant workers were initially left to fend for themselves as they headed to their villages, many of them on foot in the absence of train and bus services due to the lockdown curbs, without any provisions for food, shelter and medical aid.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed and intensified the vulnerabilities of migrant workers, who take up low-paid and low-skilled, temporary jobs and have limited access to social protection, making them prone to layoffs. With the database in place, several welfare schemes are expected to reach such informal workers.

The International Labour Organisation estimated in a 2020 report that India has 400 million unorganised workers.

India was said to be the worst impacted country due to COVID-19. According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, some 121 million jobs were lost in India in April 2020, the highest ever in a month since it started compiling employment data.

Of the 121 million jobs lost, some 91 million were daily-wage labourers and workers in the unorganised sector, CMIE had estimated. In April 2020, the unemployment rate touched a record high of 23.52 percent.

Earlier this year, the Labour Standing Committee of Parliament had recommended that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme should be extended to interstate migrant workers in order to provide sustainable livelihood to them.

The committee had also urged the Centre to put in place a credible database of unorganised workers, especially migrant labourers, to ensure seamless delivery of relief packages to them in times of distress.