Parliament Question: Social security for workers in Odisha

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4419 TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.04.2026 SOCIAL SECURITY FOR WORKERS IN ODISHA 4419. SHRI NIRANJAN BISHI: Will the Minister of Labour and Employment be pleased to state: (a) whether Government has assessed the scale of Interstate migration from Western Odisha and the KBK region; (b) if so, the number of migrant workers registered during the last three years, district-wise; (c) the schemes currently operational or proposed to generate local sustainable employment opportunities in these regions; (d) whether Government proposes to increase wage employment days in migration-prone districts or any special package, targeted scheme or region-specific employment intervention; (e) the monitoring mechanism put in place to track distress migration and ensure social security coverage for such workers; and (f) whether Government proposes to enhance the permissible number of employment days? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SUSHRI SHOBHA KARANDLAJE) (a) to (f): Ministry of Labour & Employment has launched the e- Shram portal (eshram.gov.in) on 26th August 2021. It allows an unorganised worker including migrant workers to register on the portal on self-declaration basis. The main objective of the e-Shram portal is to create a National Database of unorganized workers, including migrant workers, seeded with Aadhaar, and facilitate delivery under existing social security and welfare schemes to such workers. As on 22.03.2026, over 31.57 crore unorganised workers have already been registered on eShram portal, including from Odisha. Contd..2/-::2:: In keeping with the vision of the Budget Announcement 2024-25 on developing eShram as a One-Stop-Solution for unorganized workers to have access to various social security schemes, Ministry of Labour and Employment launched the eShram– “One-Stop-Solution” on 21st October 2024. eShram– “One-Stop- Solution” entails integration of different social security/ welfare schemes at single portal i.e. eShram. So far, fourteen (14) schemes of different Central Ministries/ Departments have already been integrated/ mapped with the eShram to extend benefits and access to social security, insurance or skill development programmes to eShram cardholders including Pradhan Mantri Street Vendors Atmanirbhar Nidhi (PMSVANidhi), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Viksit Bharat- Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G), Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G), Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB- PMJAY), Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U), Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY), Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) and Pradhan Mantri Matri Vandna Yojana (PMMVY), etc. Employment generation coupled with improving employability is a priority of the Government. Accordingly, Government is implementing various employment generation schemes/programmes in the country. The details of various employment generation schemes/ programmes being implemented by the Government may be seen at https://dge.gov.in/dge/schemes_programmes. Further, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India, is running the National Career Service (NCS) Portal which is a one-stop solution for providing career related services including jobs from private and government sectors, information on online & offline job fairs, job search & matching, career counselling, vocational guidance, information on skill development courses, skill/training programmes etc. through a digital platform [www.ncs.gov.in]. Through NCS portal 8380, 9140 and 8860 job fairs were organized in the year 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26 (as on 28.02.2026) respectively in the country. Contd..3/-::3:: Government is implementing Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) Scheme named as the Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana to support employment generation, enhance employability and social security across all sectors, with special focus on the manufacturing sector. The scheme with an outlay of Rs 99,446 Crore aims to incentivize the creation of more than 3.5 Crore jobs in the country, over a period of 2 years. The Government has enacted the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Services) Act, 1979 to provide for conditions of service of the migrant workers and matter connected therewith. The Act provides for registration of certain establishments employing Inter State Migrant Workers, licensing of contractors etc. Workers employed with such establishments are to be provided minimum wages, journey allowance, displacement allowance, residential accommodation, medical facilities and protective clothing etc. This Act has been subsumed in the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSH) Code, 2020. The OSH Code, provides for decent working conditions, minimum wages, grievances redressal mechanisms, toll free helpline to migrant workers. *****