Budget 2025: Social security, healthcare schemes to help 10 mn gig workers

The government will arrange for identity cards and registration of online platform workers on the eshram portal (eshram.gov.in), which was created on August 26, 2021, for a comprehensive National Database of Unorganised Workers (NDUW) seeded with Aadhaar, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced during her Budget speech on February 1, 2025. 

 

The eShram portal is meant to register and support the unorganised workers by providing them a Universal Account Number (UAN) on a self-declaration basis.

 

Gig workers will also be provided with health insurance under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, and this will benefit at least 10 million such workers, added the finance minister. 

 

Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY is the largest health assurance scheme in the world which aims at providing a health cover of ₹5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation.

 

PM-JAY provides cashless access to health care services for the beneficiary at the point of service, that is, the hospital.

 

PM-JAY envisions to help mitigate catastrophic expenditure on medical treatment which pushes nearly 60 million Indians into poverty each year.

 

It covers up to 3 days of pre-hospitalisation and 15 days post-hospitalisation expenses such as diagnostics and medicines.

 

There is no restriction on the family size, age or gender.

 

All pre–existing conditions are covered from day one.

 

Benefits of the scheme are portable across the country i.e. a beneficiary can visit any empanelled public or private hospital in India to avail of cashless treatment.

  Services include about 1,929 procedures covering all the costs related to treatment, including but not limited to drugs, supplies, diagnostic services, physician's fees, room charges, surgeon charges, OT and ICU charges etc.

 

Public hospitals are reimbursed for the healthcare services on a par with private hospitals.