Source: TH
Subject: Economics
Context: The ongoing debate around the draft Shram Shakti Niti 2025 has intensified concerns over weak social protection and enforcement.
- Critics argue that despite its “future-ready” vision, the policy fails to address the systemic rights violations and precarious conditions faced by millions of informal workers.
About Exploited Workers, a Labour Policy’s Empty Promises:
What is Labour exploitation?
- Labour exploitation refers to the unjust or coercive treatment of workers, where individuals are denied fair wages, safe working conditions, and legal rights.
- It often involves forced labour, excessive hours, or contract manipulation, leaving workers trapped in dependency or debt.
- Fundamentally, it violates the principles of dignity, equality, and freedom enshrined in labour and human rights laws.
Key Observations on Worker Exploitation:
- Modern Slavery Scale: India is home to over 11 million forced labourers, the highest in the world, reflecting the chronic vulnerability of workers deprived of contractual and legal protection mechanisms.
- Informal Workforce Dominance: Nearly 90% of the workforce remains outside formal employment, excluded from provident fund, health insurance, or pension coverage, exposing the fragility of India’s labour system.
- Systemic Rights Violations: The arbitrary reclassification of employees as “daily wagers” enables wage theft and denial of benefits, violating Articles 14 (Equality), 16 (Equal Opportunity), and 23 (Prohibition of Forced Labour) of the Constitution.
- Union Decline: The growing dependence on contractors and casual labour has weakened trade unions, eroding collective bargaining and diminishing the workers’ capacity to negotiate fair conditions.
- ILO Non-Compliance: India’s weak adherence to ILO Conventions 29 and 155 on forced labour and occupational safety undermines global commitments and moral credibility in labour governance.
Key Features of draft Shram Shakti Niti 2025:
- Unified Vision and Mission: Envisions a world of work where every labourer enjoys dignity, safety, and opportunity through seven core objectives — universal social security, occupational safety, gender and youth empowerment, future-readiness, and green jobs.
- Digital Public Infrastructure for Employment: The National Career Service (NCS) will evolve into India’s Employment DPI, offering transparent, AI-driven job matching, credential verification, and career guidance across Tier-II and Tier-III cities.
- Universal Social Security: Establishment of a Universal Social Security Account integrating EPFO, ESIC, PM-JAY, and e-Shram, ensuring portable and lifelong protection for every worker.
- Women and Youth Empowerment: Targets 35% female workforce participation by 2030, while promoting flexible work models, childcare, entrepreneurship, and vocational pathways for youth.
- Ease of Compliance and Formalisation: Launch of a single-window digital compliance portal with risk-based self-certification to reduce paperwork and enhance trust-based governance.
- Technology and Green Transitions: Promotes AI-enabled workplace safety systems, digital upskilling, and creation of green and sustainable jobs in line with India’s climate goals.
- Convergence and Good Governance: Establishes a three-tier institutional structure—National, State, and District Labour Missions—with data-driven dashboards and annual Labour & Employment Policy Evaluation Index (LEPEI) for performance tracking.
- Labour and Employment Stack: Creates a unified digital backbone integrating worker identities, enterprise databases, and social-security entitlements for paperless and portable governance.
- Tripartite Dialogue & Cooperative Federalism: Ensures Centre–State coordination and dialogue among government, employers, and workers to promote participatory policy implementation.
Gaps in Shram Shakti Niti 2025:
- Funding Void: The proposed Universal Social Security Account merges existing schemes but provides no clarity on funding sources or employer contributions, risking unsustainable implementation.
- Digital Exclusion: Dependence on digital IDs and e-platforms risks excluding women, elderly, and low-literacy workers in rural areas, thereby deepening inequality and violating Article 15 on non-discrimination.
- Weak Enforcement: While targeting “zero workplace fatalities by 2047,” the absence of adequate labour inspectors, penalties, and monitoring mechanisms renders this goal aspirational rather than actionable.
- Gender Gaps: The aim of achieving 35% female labour participation by 2030 lacks mandatory quotas, childcare infrastructure, and maternity benefits, undermining substantive gender equity.
- AI and Gig Economy Risks: Integration of AI for job matching and skill mapping through the National Career Service lacks ethical guidelines or bias audits, risking caste, regional, and gender-based discrimination.
Way Ahead:
- Pilot-Based Implementation: The government must initiate pilot projects in diverse sectors to test inclusivity and administrative feasibility before national deployment of Shram Shakti Niti 2025.
- Tripartite Participation: Ensuring a governance model that involves government, employers, and unions will restore accountability and shared ownership in labour reforms.
- Offline Accessibility: Providing offline enrolment, grievance redressal, and awareness campaigns will safeguard digitally excluded workers and enhance social security outreach.
- Ethical and Algorithmic Oversight: Union-vetted audits and bias checks in AI systems must be institutionalised to prevent discrimination in digital labour governance platforms.
- Dedicated Funding and Enforcement: Establishing a legally mandated social security corpus and strengthening inspection capacity are essential to translate policy commitments into tangible protection.
Conclusion:
The Shram Shakti Niti 2025 aspires to build a resilient and equitable labour ecosystem, yet its promise falters without financial credibility, institutional oversight, and inclusivity. A rights-driven policy must prioritize workers’ dignity over administrative efficiency. India’s true labour reform will be measured not by dashboards or slogans, but by the restoration of justice, fairness, and human dignity in the world of work.
