Draft National Labour & Employment Policy – Shram Shakti Niti 2025

Source: LM

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

About Draft National Labour & Employment Policy – Shram Shakti Niti 2025:

What It Is?

• 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.

Key Features:

• 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.

• Phased Implementation (2025–2047):

• 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.