Shram Shakti Niti 2025
- The Ministry of Labour and Employment released the Draft Shram Shakti Niti 2025 to modernise labour governance and accelerate the government’s shift toward labour facilitation.
About Draft Shram Shakti Niti 2025
- Draft Shram Shakti Niti 2025 is India’s first comprehensive National Labour and Employment Policy aimed at creating a fair, inclusive and technology‑enabled labour ecosystem.
- Social Security: It proposes a Universal Social Security Account (USSA) that integrates EPFO, ESIC, PM‑JAY, e‑SHRAM and state welfare boards to ensure lifelong and portable worker benefits.
- Workplace Safety: The framework commits to enforcing the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Code 2020 using AI‑based risk inspections to achieve near-zero workplace fatalities by 2047.
- Future Workforce: To build a skilled and adaptable workforce, the policy converges Skill India and PMKVY with an upgraded National Career Service platform for more accurate job matching.
- Digital Backbone: The Labour and Employment Stack will integrate worker identities, enterprise databases and social security entitlements through a unified digital architecture.
- DPI: It will link with the National Career Service to function as a Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for Employment.
- Women’s Participation: It aims to raise female labour force participation to 35% by 2030 through flexible working arrangements, safer workplaces and expanded childcare support.
- Compliance Ease: A single‑window digital portal will simplify labour administration by enabling self‑certification and conducting transparent, risk‑based inspections.
- Governance Reform: A new Labour & Employment Policy Evaluation Index will assess implementation progress and provide real‑time performance monitoring across states and ministries.
Significance of Draft Shram Shakti Niti 2025
- Inclusive Workforce: Promotes a fair and technology-enabled labour ecosystem for formal, informal, and gig workers.
- Social Security: Introduces Universal Social Security Account (USSA) for lifelong, portable worker benefits across schemes.
- Workplace Safety: Strengthens enforcement of OSH Code 2020 with AI-based risk inspections to reduce fatalities.
- Empowerment: Aims to increase female labour participation to 35% through flexible work, safer workplaces, and childcare support.
- Future-Ready Skills: Integrates Skill India, PMKVY, and National Career Service to enhance employability and accurate job matching.
Challenges Associated with the Draft Policy
- Funding Gap: The policy lacks a clear financing formula for the USSA, creating uncertainty about long-term social security for informal and gig workers.
- Digital Divide: Heavy reliance on digital platforms risks excluding rural workers, women, and older workers who have limited digital literacy.
- Regulatory Shift: Transitioning the government into a facilitator role may dilute oversight and weaken enforcement.
- Informal Sector: The policy does not adequately address the protection of rights and dispute resolution mechanisms for informal and gig workers.
- Dialogue Weakening: Absence of a formal tripartite negotiation system restricts the role of trade unions and weakens participatory labour governance.
- AI Risks: AI-based labour platforms can embed caste, gender, or regional biases without robust safeguards and stringent data protection rules.
Way Forward
- Co-Funded Security: Introduce a tripartite contribution model for the USSA with fixed funding rules and offline enrolment centres
- Safety Mission: Establish a National Workplace Safety Mission with a dedicated OSH inspectorate financed by a high‑risk industry cess.
- Childcare Fund: A National Childcare Infrastructure Fund, utilising earmarked CSR allocations, can expand workplace creches and neighbourhood childcare facilities.
- AI Oversight: Set up a statutory Labour AI Audit Body to assess job‑matching and monitoring algorithms and enforce strict data‑protection safeguards.
- Transition Support: Launch a Just Transition Income Support programme that offers temporary income and reskilling supports to workers in sunset sectors.
“The strength of a nation lies in the well-being of its workers.” The Draft Shram Shakti Niti aims to build an inclusive, tech-driven labour ecosystem, but its success depends on equity, funding, & rights protection.
Reference: The Hindu | PMFIAS: Shram Shakti Niti 2025
PMF IAS Pathfinder for Mains – Question 424
Q. A tech-enabled labour governance system is central to the Draft Shram Shakti Niti 2025. Critically analyse how digital platforms can strengthen labour rights while addressing concerns of surveillance, exclusion, and data protection. (250 Words) (15 Marks)
Approach
- Introduction: Write a brief introduction about the Draft Shram Shakti Niti 2025.
- Body: Critically analyse how digital platforms can strengthen labour rights, mention key concerns & challenges and the way forward.
- Conclusion: Emphasis on a multi-pronged approach to strengthen the labour ecosystem in India.
