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Business News/ Economy / Govt to roll out unorganized sector database by end of Jul
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Govt to roll out unorganized sector database by end of Jul

The aim is to enrol nearly 380 mn workers and provide them benefits during times of distress

The development comes more than a year after the exodus of migrant workers following the nationwide lockdown imposed to contain the spread of covid.ptiPremium
The development comes more than a year after the exodus of migrant workers following the nationwide lockdown imposed to contain the spread of covid.pti

The Union government will roll out the unorganized sector database by the end of July to enrol almost 380 million workers, weeks after the Supreme Court rapped the labour ministry, saying that it showed “unpardonable" apathy towards workers in the informal sector.

The development comes more than a year after the mass reverse migration of workers following the nationwide lockdown imposed on 25 March to contain the spread of coronavirus.

However, the exercise has already been delayed and the second covid wave exposed the shortcomings and also highlighted that the labour ministry has lagged behind in putting in place a national database that would help informal sector workers get welfare benefits.

Every informal sector worker will now be registered in a national database and each account will be linked with the 12-digit Aadhaar number and bank account, according to the plan of the labour ministry.

At least 300,000 common service centres and 100,000 post offices shall be roped in for the exercise, at least three government officials said requesting anonymity.

The ministry shall spend around 750 crore for the exercise, one of the officials mentioned above said.

“We are confident that we shall roll out the national database by the end of July. The National Informatics Centre is preparing the technology backbone at a cost of 45 crore. Overall, the expenditure is around 750 crore," said the second official.

“States, the Centre and individuals themselves can enrol either directly or via common service centres and post offices. Once in place, the migrants and informal sector workers will be able to enjoy seamless benefits, including social security, when the government announces anything for them," the second official said.

“A database will help the government in several ways. It will help keep track of the movement of migrants and deal better with situations such as covid-19. It can also help the governments of both the origin state and the destination state plan welfare measures, including social security provisions," said the second official.

In the last week of June, the Supreme Court had said that the “apathy and lackadaisical attitude by the ministry of labour and employment is unpardonable", while hearing a case related to migrants and workers in the unorganized sector.

The labour ministry had in September drawn a lot of criticism after it told Parliament that it does not have information on the number of migrant deaths during the lockdown.

An open-source database set up by a group of academicians and technology experts showed that more than 900 migrants had died because of non-covid reasons during the lockdown imposed to contain the spread of coronavirus during the first wave of infections.

Work on this front remained slow for almost 10 months even after the criticism faced by the government.

On Wednesday, during the cabinet reshuffle, Santosh Gangwar was replaced as Union labour minister by senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Bhupendra Yadav, who took charge of the ministry on Thursday.

Yadav will be instrumental in rolling out not only the national database but also the four labour codes on wages, industrial relations, occupational safety and social security, and maintaining a balance between workers’ welfare and pro-industry reforms.

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Published: 08 Jul 2021, 11:51 PM IST
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