India’s eShram Database Empowers 300 Million Informal Workers with AI

India’s ambitious eShram platform is proving to be a game-changer for the nation’s informal workforce. Launched in August 2021, the platform aims to register approximately 400 million informal workers, providing them with social security benefits and potential pathways into formal employment. This initiative is supported by technological advancements and cloud solutions from Microsoft Azure, according to Source Asia.

Transforming Informal Employment

The eShram database aims to address the challenges faced by the informal workforce, which constitutes about 82% of India’s total workforce. These workers often lack formal employment contracts, regulated working conditions, and access to social benefits like health insurance and pensions. The platform, developed by the National Informatics Centre under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), leverages Microsoft Azure for its scalability, reliability, and security features.

Manoj Kumar Saxena, senior director (IT) at MeitY, emphasized the platform’s ability to handle massive data volumes, processing up to 172,000 transactions per second and managing 8 million registrations daily. Azure’s cloud services, including Kubernetes, VM Scale Sets, and Cosmos DB, enable this high-volume processing while maintaining low latency.

Bridging the Digital and Language Gap

To reach the vast number of informal workers, many of whom are itinerant and have limited education, the initiative utilizes more than 450,000 common services centers across India. These centers assist workers in registering by inputting their details, such as Aadhaar numbers and skill sets. The integration of Bhashini, an AI-powered language platform, further aids this process by providing real-time translations in 22 local languages.

Pathway to Formal Employment

Beyond registration, eShram is connected with the National Career Service (NCS) portal, allowing workers to access job opportunities, career counseling, and training that could lead to formal employment. Since its integration in 2022, about 17.8 million eShram-registered workers have joined NCS, which boasts a total of 150 million users.

With plans to introduce AI chatbots and a mobile app location manager, the Ministry of Labour and Employment aims to make job searches more accessible, especially for those in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. These developments are part of a broader strategy to transition informal workers into the formal sector, providing them with benefits like health insurance and retirement savings.

Future Prospects and Global Outreach

The data collected through eShram and NCS is expected to inform future labor policies, aiding in skills matching for domestic and international job markets. Anjali Rawat, deputy director general of employment, highlighted the potential for these platforms to eliminate exploitative job brokers, ensuring safer recruitment for workers both domestically and abroad.

There are also plans to offer eShram and NCS as digital public infrastructure to other countries. The platforms were showcased at the International Labour Conference in Geneva in June 2025, receiving commendation for their innovative approach to workforce management.

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