Govt to extend social security to gig workers through e-Shram
India’s gig economy is rapidly expanding but most workers are undocumented and not covered by any welfare programme
The government will open its e-Shram portal, a national informal workers’ database, to gig and platform workers, which will give them access to federal social-security schemes, Union labour and employment minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Sunday.
The labour ministry will ask aggregators and platform-running firms to ensure registration of all gig workers in the portal. “An online window will be made available to aggregators to ensure a smooth and efficient registration process,” Mandaviya said after chairing a review meeting on gig workers.
Mandaviya said the government was exploring all avenues to extend social-security benefits to gig and platform workers, such as those available for registered informal workers. Workers registered on the labour ministry’s e-Shram portal are covered under public life and accidental insurance, among other facilities.
The Social Security Code 2020, which covers the gig economy, is a key step in “acknowledging and formalising the roles of gig workers”, he said.
India’s gig economy is rapidly expanding but most workers are undocumented and not covered by any welfare programme.
According to the Economic Survey 2023-24, gig workforce in Asia’s third-largest economy will reach 23.5 million by 2029-39, roughly three times the estimated 7.7 million workers in 2020-21.
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi government, in its previous term, enacted four labour codes by revamping and amalgamating a complex set of 29 federal laws to ramp up hiring and social security for the country’s labour force.
The codes, however, are yet to take effect because not all states have framed rules under the codes, as is required.
The E-Shram portal is the first national database of informal workers, including migrants, gig workers, street vendors, domestic workers and agricultural labourers. A registered worker gets access to free ration under the public distribution system at the place of work, an annual travel payment by the employer and public insurance benefits.