By V Anantha Nageswaran

In the modern era of digital society, e-governance has brought the government closer to the citizens. By leveraging technology, the government is redefining and re-engineering the delivery of services in many areas, including employment growth and workers’ social security. Processes are becoming more efficient, transparent, and, above all, citizen-centric. Portals of schemes now act as “all-in-one” platforms, facilitating the seamless knowledge flow and benefit mapping across programmes while reducing fraud, manual processes, and administrative burdens. Aadhaar seeding and interlinkage of schemes prevent beneficiary duplication. The interlinked portals further empower workers to access and track benefits, explore employment opportunities, and pursue skill training while enabling employers to tap into a national talent pool, enabling hiring based on skills and experience. Additionally, these portals contribute to building comprehensive national databases of unorganised workers, job seekers, employers, and employment opportunities, allowing policymakers to make data-backed decisions. This digital transformation is streamlining governance, empowering citizens, and enhancing the reach and impact of welfare efforts.

The National Career Service (NCS) portal is a notable example of this transformation. Launched in 2015, it has played a crucial role in providing employment-related services to over 5.5 crore job seekers. It serves as a “one-stop platform” that connects job seekers with employment opportunities across the country, providing career counselling, job matching, information on internships, apprenticeships, skill courses, etc. Today, with the NCS, one can easily search for jobs by location, through integration with PM Gati Shakti, receive career and job counselling, and even acquire the necessary skills through the Skill India Digital portal — all on a phone or by attending local job fairs.

Approximately 57,000 job fairs have been organised under the NCS project to date. Further, the portal has been integrated with the Skill India Digital Hub (SIDH), Udyam, e-Shram, Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation, Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), PM Gati Shakti, DigiLocker, etc., facilitating greater stakeholder access and efficiency. The portal is also connected with about 30 state and private job portals, broadening access to job opportunities. Similarly, the Shram Suvidha and Samadhan portals enhance compliance and ease of doing business for industry and trade, ensuring faster resolution of disputes and settlement of claims and workers’ grievances. The ESIC Dhanwantari Module enables hospitals and dispensaries to have better access of patient records, ensuring better care. These initiatives are a powerful testament to the government’s resolve not to leave anyone behind by leveraging technology and making service provision more accessible, efficient, and transparent for all.

Another aspect of employment is the provision of social security. India is home to a large informal, unorganised sector, and it is characterised by a lack of written contracts and social security coverage from the employer. Social security by the government is the promise of protection during distress that prevents temporary crises from becoming lifelong hardships. While the government’s continuous efforts have led to significant progress, extending social security benefits to all remains a key priority area.

Until recently, millions of unorganised workers had limited access to and awareness of the benefits of social security schemes available to them. The e-Shram portal addresses this challenge. Unorganised workers now have a unique identification and understanding of the government’s social security schemes. The portal, launched in 2021, has registered over 30.7 crore unorganised workers and acts as a “one-stop solution” for workers by integrating around 13 social security schemes in one place. The FY26 Budget significantly extended social security to gig workers by facilitating e-Shram registration, providing unique identity cards, and expanding coverage under the PM Jan Arogya Yojana. By sharing workers’ details with the states/Union Territories, the portal enables better planning and implementation of worker welfare programmes at the state level. Furthermore, the portal has been integrated with the NCS, SIDH, myScheme, etc. This allows workers to register once on e-Shram and seamlessly access scheme portals of central and state governments. A multilingual facility featuring 22 languages has recently been added to e-Shram through the ministry of electronics and information technology’s Bhashini project to enhance accessibility. State Microsites and Mobile apps have been launched for further operational ease.

These efforts have achieved success, garnered appreciation at home, and have also received recognition globally. According to the latest update in the International Labour Organization’s database, India’s social security coverage surged from 19% in 2015 to 64.3% in 2025, and it ranks second in terms of beneficiary count which went up to 94.13 crore. The growth reported is a result of the government’s efforts to include state social security schemes along with the 32 central sector schemes to compute social security coverage.

In parallel, the EPFO, with over 34.6 crore members, has implemented several digital reforms to transform into EPFO 2.0. These improve the accessibility to its members and the ease of doing business for employers. Key initiatives, including introducing the Universal Account Number, creating a centralised database, the e-passbook, the UMANG app, the e-collection of contributions, and the provision of digital life certificates, have enhanced members’ access to benefits. The introduction of the Centralised Pension Payment System under EPFO is set to benefit 77 lakh pensioners. Additionally, the increase in the limit of auto-claim settlement to Rs 1 lakh is expected to impact around 7.5 crore members. EPFO has also simplified the fund transfer process, benefitting over 1.25 crore members and facilitating the yearly transfer of around Rs 90,000 crore. These reforms are set to make navigating the system easier for both members and employers.

Government policy interventions must be backed by active participation from industry. A prime example of the industry’s vital role is the e-Shram initiative, where the successful implementation of social security for gig and platform workers relies heavily on the involvement of platform aggregators. Employers must recognise that creating a safe, secure, and satisfactory workplace, as well as providing social security for workers, is essential for long-term productivity. Additionally, it is crucial to offer targeted and ongoing support to disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, which will promote economic and social mobility and eliminate barriers that prevent participation in the workforce.

The writer is chief economic advisor, Government of India.

Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal and do not reflect the official position or policy of FinancialExpress.com. Reproducing this content without permission is prohibited.