UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — ‘1.03 crore new workers joined ESIC after reforms’

Q1. With reference to the Scheme to Promote Registration of Employers/Employees (SPREE) 2025, consider the following as eligible to register or be covered under the scheme: 1. Unregistered employers who voluntarily come forward during the scheme's operational window 2. Contractual and temporary workers who were inadvertently left out of ESI coverage 3. Employees drawing gross wages up to Rs 21,000 per month (Rs 25,000 for persons with disabilities) 4. Self-employed informal-sector workers with no employer-employee relationship Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. Unregistered employers who voluntarily come forward during the scheme's operational window
  2. Contractual and temporary workers who were inadvertently left out of ESI coverage
  3. Employees drawing gross wages up to Rs 21,000 per month (Rs 25,000 for persons with disabilities)
  4. Self-employed informal-sector workers with no employer-employee relationship
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 1, 2 and 3 only
  • C. 2, 3 and 4 only
  • D. 1, 3 and 4 only

Q2. SPREE 2025 is operationalised by which one of the following bodies?

  • A. Employees' Provident Fund Organisation, under the Ministry of Labour & Employment
  • B. Employees' State Insurance Corporation, under the Ministry of Labour & Employment
  • C. Directorate General of Employment, under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship
  • D. National Social Security Board, under the Ministry of Finance

Q3. Which one of the following is the principal parent statute under which the SPREE 2025 amnesty-cum-registration drive has been framed?

  • A. The Code on Social Security, 2020
  • B. The Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948
  • C. The Unorganised Workers' Social Security Act, 2008
  • D. The Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952

Q4. With reference to the social security benefits available to an Insured Person under the ESI Act, 1948 (to which workers newly registered under SPREE 2025 become entitled), consider the following: 1. Medical benefit, including hospitalisation, for the insured worker and dependants 2. Maternity benefit for insured women 3. Unemployment allowance under the Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana 4. Old-age pension on the insured person attaining 60 years of age Which of the above is/are NOT correctly identified as an ESIC benefit?

  1. Medical benefit, including hospitalisation, for the insured worker and dependants
  2. Maternity benefit for insured women
  3. Unemployment allowance under the Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana
  4. Old-age pension on the insured person attaining 60 years of age
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 4 only
  • C. 3 and 4 only
  • D. 2 and 3 only

Q5. As reported by the Union Ministry of Labour & Employment in January 2026, approximately how many new employees had been brought under ESI coverage through the SPREE 2025 registration drive?

  • A. About 1.17 lakh
  • B. About 88 thousand
  • C. About 1.03 crore
  • D. About 1.17 crore