Labour Ministry to collect Aadhaar details of informal workers for social security schemes

The Ministry of Labour & Employment has now been mandated to seek the 12-digit unique identification number Aadhaar from people like employees and unorganised sector workers seeking registration, benefits, availing services or receiving any payment under various schemes under the Social Security Code 2020.

Key Highlights

• Aadhaar would not be made mandatory for delivery of services under various social security schemes under the purview of the ministry because Social Security Code 2020 has not been fully implemented so far.

• The rules under the Code are finalised by the ministry but those rules are yet to be notified.

• The main purpose of the latest mandate given to the ministry is to facilitate database creation, mainly covering people in informal sectors like migrant workers.

• In this regard, a notification was issued by the ministry on May 3, which mandates the ministry and bodies working under it to seek Aadhaar number from the beneficiaries under the Social Security Code.

• The Social Security Code 2020 will subsume nine labour laws. They include The Employee’s Compensation Act, 1923; The Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948; The Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952; The Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Act, 1959 and The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961.

• The other laws that will be subsumed are The Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972; The Cine-Workers Welfare Fund Act, 1981; The Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Cess Act, 1996 and The Unorganised Workers Social Security Act, 2008.

SOURCE: The Indian Express

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