Why in the news?

  • The Ministry of Labour & Employment has released the Draft National Labour & Employment Policy – Shram Shakti Niti 2025 for public consultation.

Draft National Labour & Employment Policy – Shram Shakti Niti 2025

  • What is it?:  Shram Shakti Niti 2025 is India’s first integrated National Labour & Employment Policy, aiming to create a fair, inclusive, and future-ready world of work.
  • Aim: To modernise India’s labour ecosystem by ensuring dignity, protection, and opportunity for every worker while aligning with Viksit Bharat @2047.
  • Features:
    • Unified Vision and Mission: Builds a world of work where every labourer has dignity, safety, and opportunity through seven goals — social security, safety, gender and youth empowerment, future-readiness, and green jobs.
    • Digital Public Infrastructure for Employment: National Career Service (NCS) to become India’s Employment DPI with AI-based job matching, skill verification, and career guidance across smaller cities.
    • Universal Social Security: A single Universal Social Security Account will link EPFO, ESIC, PM-JAY, and e-Shram for lifelong, portable worker protection.
    • Women and Youth Empowerment: Aims for 35% female workforce participation by 2030; supports flexible work, childcare, start-ups, and skill training for youth.
    • Ease of Compliance and Formalisation: Introduces one digital compliance portal with self-certification, reducing paperwork and encouraging trust-based governance.
    • Technology and Green Transitions: Promotes AI-enabled safety systems, digital upskilling, and creation of green jobs aligned with climate goals.
    • Convergence and Good Governance: Sets up National, State, and District Labour Missions with data dashboards and an annual Labour & Employment Policy Evaluation Index (LEPEI) for tracking progress.
    • Labour and Employment Stack: Builds a digital backbone linking worker IDs, enterprise data, and welfare schemes for paperless, portable governance.
    • Tripartite Dialogue & Cooperative Federalism: Strengthens coordination among Centre, States, employers, and workers for joint policy implementation.
    • Implementation Phases:
      • Phase I (2025–27): Institutional setup, digital pilots, and social-security integration.
      • Phase II (2027–30): Expansion through Universal Social Security rollout and AI-based job matching.
      • Phase III (Beyond 2030): Full digital convergence and predictive labour governance