Labour and Employment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Thursday said, the Government had during the last nine years taken several initiatives for the welfare of both organized and unorganized workers, including the conversion of 29 labour laws into four simplified Labour Codes.

Addressing a press conference on the Government’s achievements in the sphere of labour welfare under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, he said the Labour Codes will ensure empowerment of workers via minimum wages, job security, social security and health security.

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He said various flagship schemes meant for welfare for workers such as e-Shram Portal, National Career Service (NCS), Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana (ABRY), Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Mandhan Scheme (PM-SYM) had benefited workers.

The e-Shram portal is one of the key initiatives to create a national database for unorganised workers. A total of 28.93 crore unorganised workers have registered on the portal in more than 400 occupations. More occupations will be added. It is also integrated with NCS and Skill India Portal (SIP) portal, yadav said.

The Union Minister said the National Career Service (NCS) was Launched in 2015 to provide a variety of employment related services on digital platforms. As on 31 May, 2023, the NCS platform has 3.20 crore registered Jobseekers, 11.25 Lakh active employers and 6.42 lakh active vacancies.

The vacancies mobilized since its launch are more than 1.39 crore. It is integrated with e-Shram, Udyam and Skill India Portal (SIP), he added.

Yadav said an Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO)-linked Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana (ABRY) was launched on 30^th December, 2020 with an expenditure of Rs 22,810 crore for the period FY 2020-2024 to boost employment generation and to minimize socio-economic impact of Covid-19 pandemic.

 As on 30^th May, 2023, as many as 1,52,278 establishments have claimed benefits amounting to Rs 9382.16 crores in respect of 60.40 Lakh beneficiaries, the labour minister said.

The labour minister said around 44.33 lakh beneficiaries have been enrolled under the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Mandhan Scheme (PM-SYM) as on 31^st May, 2023 which was launched on 15th February, 2019  assuring minimum monthly pension of Rs 3000/- after the age of 60 years to the workers of unorganized sector.

The union minister said the Shram Suvidha Portal (SSP) was launched on 16th October, 2014 to promote effective, efficient and real-time governance by bringing transparency and accountability in labour laws, easing compliance and reducing transaction costs.

Also integrated with the National Single Window System Portal (NSWS) of DPIIT, it enables investors to apply for licenses and registrations under labour laws on single sign-on at NSWS, he added.

Yadav also highlighted various policy reforms such as decriminalization under Labour Codes, Maternity Benefit, Welfare for SC/ST job seekers and Labour welfare scheme for Beedi/cine/Non-Coal Mines workers, in the last nine years.

He said the notified paid maternity leave was increased from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for two surviving children and 12 weeks for more than two children. Commissioning/Adopting Mothers will get 12 weeks of paid maternity leave for the first time, he added.

Highlighting major developments in the EPFO, Yadav said memberships of EPFO increased from 15.84 crore in 2014-15 to 27.73 crore in 2021-22. The claims settled amounted to Rs 130.21 lakh in 2014-15, and the amount increased to Rs 390.97 lakh in 2021-22.

The number of districts covered under the ESI Scheme increased from 393 in 2014 to 611 at present. Insured Persons and beneficiaries are now 3.10 crore and 12.03 crore, respectively, at present, as compared to 2.03 crore insured persons and 7.89 crore beneficiaries in 2014.