Majority of informal workers employed in agricultural sector, 70% are OBCs, SCs, STs

The e-Shram portal is the country's first centralised database of unorganised workers in the country. It has so far seen 7.86 crore registrations.

Of these, 40.5 per cent belong to Other Backward Classes (OBCs), 27.7 per cent to general category, 23.7 per cent to Scheduled Castes and 8.3 per cent to Scheduled Tribes, as per a report by the Indian Express.

For the first time, there is an indicator of the social profile of the informal workers in the country.

According to the 2011 Census, the population of SCs in the country was at 16.2 per cent, STs at 8.2 per cent. And while the count of OBCs is not detailed in the Census, a 2007 survey by National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) said that OBCs accounted for 40.9 per cent of the population share. The general category population share was around 34 per cent.

For occupation-wise data, maximum registrations were in the agricultural sector at 53.6 per cent. This is followed by construction at 12.2 per cent and domestic and household workers at 8.71 per cent.

The portal records primary and secondary occupations of workers with those in rural areas routinely having two occupations.

Speaking to the publication, a senior ministry official said, "There are many unorganised workers who shift between informal and formal work and even among occupations. Say, an agricultural labourer may also work as a construction worker at a different point of time in the year. So, the portal is registering information based on primary and secondary occupation. Usually, for rural areas, two occupations are being seen for the unorganised workers. The workers will be able to update their details so that the data remains dynamic and up-to-date."

As for state-wise registrations, for the agricultural sector, West Bengal had 1.05 crore registrations, or 13.38 per cent. This was followed by Odisha at 10.5 per cent or 82.6 lakh registrations, Uttar Pradesh with 9.15 per cent or 71.9 lakh registrations and Jharkhand having 3.03 per cent share or 23.82 lakh registrations. The highest registrations have been seen for crop and farm labourers and field crop and vegetable growers, the report said.

For the construction sector, West Bengal leads with 17.03 lakh registrations, Bihar with 13.13 lakh registrations and Odisha with 12.04 lakh registrations. In this sector, the highest registrations were recorded for building and construction workers followed by those working on houses.

The third highest registrations have been for the occupation of 'domestic and household workers.' In this category, the highest share is that of domestic cooks at 56.02 lakh followed by cleaners and helpers at 12.45 lakh. In this category, Uttar Pradesh saw the highest registrations at 21.63 lakh , followed by West Bengal at 14.29 lakh.

Of the total registrations, women account for 51.61 registrations. More than 61 per cent workers belong to the age group of 18-40 years. 86.33 per cent of the total people who registered also have bank accounts.

In terms of income-wise classification, 92 per cent of the registrants have a monthly income of Rs 10,000, less than 6 per cent have income between Rs 10,000-15,000. Only 1 per cent have income between Rs 15,000-18,000 and 0.5 per cent have income between Rs 18,000-21,000.

The government has already announced linking accidental insurance with registration on the e-Shram portal. If a registered worker meets with an accident, he/she will be eligible for Rs 2 lakh on death or permanent disability and Rs 1 lakh on partial disability, the report further added.

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