Govt mulls reworking migrant, gig worker definitions
The Union labour ministry is reviewing definitions of migrant and gig workers to enhance inclusivity and clarity, covering intra-state migrations and digital platforms.
The Union labour ministry is considering a review of the statutory definitions of the term migrant worker to widen its scope and gig worker to bring more clarity, for which preliminary discussions were held recently, a person familiar with the matter said.
The 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.
Informal workforce categories, such as migrants and platform workers, are mainly covered by The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSH) Code, 2020, and the Code on Social Security, 2020.
Over 90% of workers, about 430 million Indians, depend on the informal sector for a livelihood with little or no social-safety net in sectors, such as small manufacturing and construction.
“There is a need to redefine a migrant worker to make it more inclusive. There has to be a benchmark on how many kilometers does a worker need to relocate for work from his usual place of stay to be legally considered a migrant worker,” the person cited above said.
Migrant workers were governed by the now-defunct Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act (ISMA), 1979. ISMA defined migrant workers as “any person recruited by or through a contractor in one state by an agreement or for employment in an establishment in another state whether with or without the knowledge of the principal employer in relation to such an employment”.
OSH Code 2020 updated the definition to include workers directly hired by a firm in another state. Moreover, a person who voluntarily migrates for work to another state was also covered under the new legislation provided the worker made a declaration by registering on the “E-Shram” portal with a 12-digit Aadhaar number, to be eligible for social-security benefits.
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.
The labour ministry is considering widening the scope of this definition, which may cover intra-state migrations too, the official said. By setting down a km-based threshold – the minimum distance of migration – a reworked definition could cover workers who migrate within a state.
According to the 2011 Census, over 85% of workers migrate within a state. “Arriving at the threshold will require experts’ views and consultations,” the official said.
The government is also planning to bring more clarity to the definition of gig or platform workers, a class of workforce enabled by the growing digital technology-based platforms.
The Code on Social Security 2020 covers gig workers under the ambit of labour laws for the first time. Chapter I, section 2(35) of the code defines a gig worker as “a person who participates in a work arrangement and earns from such activities outside of a traditional employer–employee relationship.”
This is a vague description that needs more clarity because of the expanding nature of technologies, experts say. Section 2(61) defines a platform worker ‘‘as someone engaged in or undertaking platform work’.
“All platform workers are likely to be gig workers. Platform workers are paid on a per-task basis, but all gig workers may not necessarily be platform workers,” said Madhusoodhan M, a scholar at the School of Business, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore.
The government is likely to address these issues since the gig economy is expanding exponentially, the official said, adding that the labour codes have addressed the social-security needs of the sector for first time.