Shram Shakti Niti 2025: India’s New Labour Policy for a Future-Ready Workforce

Shram Shakti Niti Latest News

• The Ministry of Labour and Employment has released the draft National Labour & Employment Policy — Shram Shakti Niti 2025 for public consultation, aligning with India’s Viksit Bharat @2047 vision.
• Marking a shift from regulation to facilitation, the policy redefines the ministry’s role as an “employment facilitator” focused on creating a fair, inclusive, and technology-driven labour ecosystem. 
• It seeks to promote collaboration among workers, employers, and training institutions through data-driven and integrated systems.

Shram Shakti Niti 2025: Blueprint for a Fair, Inclusive, and Future-Ready Workforce

• Labour” as a subject is in the Concurrent List of the Constitution of India.
  • Hence, both the Central Government as well as State Governments can make rules/laws on this subject.
• As a result, the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment has released the draft National Labour and Employment Policy — Shram Shakti Niti 2025 for public consultation.
• Rooted in India’s civilisational ethos of “śrama dharma” — the dignity and moral value of work — the policy seeks to create a balanced framework that ensures protection, productivity, and participation for every worker while enabling enterprises to grow sustainably.

National Career Service (NCS): Digital Public Infrastructure for Employment

• At the heart of the policy is the NCS, envisioned as India’s Digital Public Infrastructure for Employment.
• The platform will offer:
  • AI-enabled job matching and career guidance
  • Credential verification and skill mapping
  • Cross-sectoral and regional employment linkages
• The NCS will serve as a unified interface to connect employers, job seekers, and training providers through trusted digital systems.

Focus Areas and Core Objectives

• The draft policy emphasizes creating a resilient, skilled, and inclusive workforce ready for emerging global challenges such as technological disruption, climate change, and evolving value chains.
• Key focus areas include:
  • Universal social security and income protection
  • Occupational safety and health (OSH)
  • Women and youth empowerment
  • Green and technology-enabled jobs
  • Continuous skill development and lifelong learning

Unified Labour Stack: Integrated Digital Ecosystem

• The policy proposes integrating major national databases — EPFO, ESIC, e-Shram, and NCS — into a unified labour stack.
• This integration will enable:
  • Interoperable data systems for better policy coordination
  • Lifelong learning opportunities
  • Universal social protection and income security
  • Real-time labour market insights for evidence-based governance

Complementing Labour Law Reforms

• The new policy complements the government’s recent consolidation of 29 central labour laws into four simplified labour codes, namely:
  • Code on Wages (2019)
  • Industrial Relations Code (2020)
  • Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code (2020)
  • Social Security Code (2020)
• Together, these reforms aim to simplify compliance, improve worker protection, and foster formal employment.

Guiding Principles and Pillars

• The policy is guided by four foundational pillars:
  • Dignity of labour
  • Universal inclusion
  • Cooperative federalism
  • Data-driven governance
• It envisions a resilient institutional framework based on convergence across digital systems, ensuring policy coherence and long-term impact.

Seven Strategic Priorities

• The draft policy identifies seven strategic priorities for achieving its goals:
  • Universal and portable social security
  • Occupational safety and health
  • Employment and future readiness
  • Women and youth empowerment
  • Ease of compliance and formalisation
  • Technology and green transitions
  • Convergence through good governance

Women and Youth Empowerment

• The draft aims to increase women’s labour participation to 35% by 2030 and promote youth entrepreneurship and career guidance.
• Key initiatives include:
  • Single-window digital compliance for MSMEs with self-certification and simplified returns
  • Expanded career services through the National Career Service (NCS) platform
  • Green jobs and just-transition pathways for workers adapting to new industries and technologies

Technology-Driven Governance and Data Integration

• The policy envisions a unified national labour data architecture to ensure inter-ministerial coherence and transparent monitoring.
• Key digital initiatives include:
  • AI-enabled safety systems
  • Predictive analytics for workforce planning
  • Real-time digital dashboards to track progress
  • Annual National Labour Report presented to Parliament
  • Labour & Employment Policy Evaluation Index (LPEI) to benchmark State performance

Implementation and Accountability Plan

• Policy execution will proceed in three phases:
  • Phase I (2025–27): Institutional setup and integration of social-security systems.
  • Phase II (2027–30): Nationwide rollout of universal social-security accounts, skill-credit systems, and district-level Employment Facilitation Cells.
  • Phase III (Beyond 2030): Full paperless governance, predictive policy analytics, and continuous renewal mechanisms.
• Progress will be monitored through real-time dashboards, the LPEI index, and third-party evaluations to ensure transparency and accountability.

Expected Outcomes

• According to Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, the policy envisions a resilient and inclusive labour ecosystem focused on both worker welfare and enterprise growth.
• Expected outcomes include:
  • Universal worker registration
  • Social security portability
  • Near-zero workplace fatalities
  • Female labour-force participation at 35% by 2030
  • Reduction in informal employment through digital compliance
  • AI-driven labour governance in all states
  • Creation of millions of green and decent jobs
  • A unified “One Nation Integrated Workforce” ecosystem

Source: TH | LM

‹ ›