Bhubaneswar: Despite Odisha ranking seventh nationally with more than 1.37 crore unorganised workers registered on the Centre’s e-Shram portal, a large section of the state’s migrant workforce appears to remain outside its purview.While migrant workers are among those the portal is intended to cover, Parliament data shows that only a tiny number of Odisha workers are recorded to have migrated outside the state for employment through the e-Shram database. It has raised concerns over many migrant workers being left without the formal digital link to social security and welfare benefits that e-Shram is designed to facilitate.The state had 1,37,72,362 e-Shram registrations as on July 28, placing it seventh among states and Union Territories. However, according to a separate Parliament reply, only 1,371 registered Odisha workers were recorded on e-Shram as having migrated outside the state for employment during 2023-26. The figure stood at 212 in 2023, 375 in 2024, 431 in 2025 and 353 in 2026.Experts said the latter figure should not be interpreted as the actual number of Odisha workers migrating outside the state. Rather, it represents only those workers whose migration was recorded in the e-Shram database.e-Shram was launched in 2021 to create a national database of unorganised workers, including migrant, gig and platform workers, and provide them with a Universal Account Number. Registration is based on self-declaration.For migrant workers, registration on e-Shram can serve as an important digital link to a range of social-security and welfare schemes. The Centre launched the e-Shram One-Stop-Solution in Oct 2024 to integrate different welfare schemes on a single platform and enable registered workers to access information on benefits available to them.As many as 15 central schemes have been integrated or mapped with e-Shram, including One Nation One Ration Card, Ayushman Bharat-PMJAY, PMAY-G, PMAY-U, PM-KISAN, PMSBY, PMJJBY, PMMVY, PMSVANidhi and the rural employment programme. The portal is also linked with the National Career Service for job opportunities, Skill India Digital Hub for skill development and Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan for pension-related services.Labour rights activists said for workers who leave the state in search of employment, not being registered on e-Shram or not having their migrant status captured could leave them outside the digital system through which these benefits and services are being converged.“Only workers leaving the state through licensed contractors, or those engaged under MGNREGS, are being registered under e-Shram, while many labourers who migrate voluntarily to other states in search of employment remain outside the portal,” said labour rights activist Loknath Mishra.Awareness about e-Shram also remains low among migrant workers. Registration requires successful Aadhaar-based eKYC authentication, with details such as name, gender, date of birth, permanent address and photograph being fetched from UIDAI to ensure accuracy and prevent duplicate or fraudulent entries. “Many workers are unaware of the registration process and the benefits it can provide. A labourer may have access to a smartphone, but that does not necessarily mean he is aware of these formalities or knows how to complete the registration,” Mishra said.Meanwhile, labour department officials said regular awareness drives are being conducted among labourers at their worksites across the state to encourage e-Shram registration.
