Jammu Kashmir Has 36.12 Inter State Migrant Workers   | Kashmir Life

SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir has crossed 36,12,778 registrations on the e-Shram portal, according to figures placed before the Rajya Sabha on December 11. The Union Territory continues to show high enrolment among unorganised and migrant workers, with the Centre stating that the national database is now central to mapping welfare benefits, portability, and labour protections across India. The Ministry of Labour and Employment, in its written reply, said it has integrated multiple social security and livelihood schemes with the portal to strengthen the safety net for workers who frequently move across State borders.

In response to a question on the welfare of inter-State migrant workers, the Ministry said the e-Shram portal, launched on August 26, 2021, has become the primary Aadhaar-seeded national registry of unorganised workers. As of December 7, 2025, over 31.39 crore workers are registered across States and Union Territories. Workers are allowed to self-register, and the database has been made accessible to all States and Union Territories for ongoing enrolment.

The Government told the House that statutory protections for migrant workers, previously governed by the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979, have been consolidated under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSH) Code, 2020. The Code provides for decent working conditions, grievance-redress mechanisms, minimum wages, a toll-free helpline, and safeguards against abuse and exploitation. It will apply to establishments employing ten or more inter-State migrant workers.

Under the Code, employers must pay a lump-sum annual travel allowance to every inter-State migrant worker for a to-and-fro journey to their native place, with detailed modalities to be defined by the appropriate Government. The Centre has said that this provision is aimed at reducing the economic vulnerability of workers who travel long distances for employment.

The Ministry also highlighted that several national welfare schemes have been integrated with e-Shram, enabling direct linkage of unorganised and migrant workers to benefits. These include the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-Dhan (PMSYM), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS), Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Ayushman Bharat–Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin and Urban), PM-SVANidhi, and the Matsya Sampada Yojana, among others.

State-wise data shows the highest registrations from Uttar Pradesh (8.41 crore), Bihar (3.21 crore), and West Bengal (2.65 crore), indicating the concentration of unorganised and migrant labour in these regions. Jammu and Kashmir’s tally of over 36 lakh registrations places it above several larger States in terms of enrolment volume. Ladakh, meanwhile, has recorded 35,139 registrations.

The Government has said that the mapping of schemes, expanded social security framework, and a national grievance mechanism position migrant workers more centrally within India’s labour governance framework, especially in sectors marked by high mobility and informality.