Rajasthan government plans law to protect rights of gig workers

In a first for the country, the Rajasthan government is likely to propose a law to protect the rights of gig workers and make them beneficiaries of various state welfare schemes, in the budget session of the state assembly in January next year, senior officials aware of the details said on Tuesday.

In a first for the country, the Rajasthan government is likely to propose a law to protect the rights of gig workers and make them beneficiaries of various state welfare schemes, in the budget session of the state assembly in January next year, senior officials aware of the details said on Tuesday.

The term gig workers refers to those who are engaged in any income-generating activity as freelancers or on a temporary basis. (Shutterstock)

The term gig workers refers to those who are engaged in any income-generating activity as freelancers or on a temporary basis. These workers mainly work for app-based services, the popular ones being Ola, Uber, Swiggy and Zomato.

According to data available with the National Institution for Transforming India (Niti) Aayog, around 7.7 million people are employed as gig workers as of June 2022 and their number is likely to treble by 2029-30. The officials cited above said the Rajasthan government estimates that there are 225,000 to 270,000 gig workers in the state alone, with about 50,000 employed with Ola and 35,000 with Uber.

One of the officials said that in June, the state government conducted a sample survey to learn about the benefits and challenges faced by gig workers. Most workers said that their jobs provided flexibility, helped them choose the type of work they wanted and helped maintain a balance between their work and home life.

“However, the workers said that unlike regular jobs, they do not have any job security and facilities like health insurance. Moreover, they are not covered under labour laws and therefore, do not get institutional protection against exploitation. Their biggest concern was that there is no alternative source of income if they lose their job,” the official said, wishing not to be named.

The survey found that more than 50% of the gig workers did not have any kind of health insurance and about 40% were not covered under the state government’s accidental insurance. Most workers were from Rajasthan and some were from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, the official said.

Taking into consideration the findings of the survey, the Rajasthan government is planning to launch a portal where gig workers can register themselves to avail government benefits, the official added.

“The state may start a dedicated portal for the registration of gig workers in Rajasthan, which would act as a basis for providing social security measures to them. Further, the state government may collaborate with the companies of gig workers to provide the social security benefits on scale” a second official said, also wishing not to be named.

The second official said the state government wants to cover all gig workers, who are residentsof Rajasthan, under the state government’s Chiranjeevi health scheme that provides for annual health insurance worth ₹10 lakh for free. He added that workers in the state would also get protection, such as right to file complaint with labour department, under the labour laws, similar to the one given to contractual employees.

Through the proposed law, the government aims to define gig workers, their minimum wages and their rights, the first official said.

“There will be clarity on the legal provisions once the draft of the proposed law is final. We will be talking to their employers before finalising the draft of the law to ensure that it does not impact the gig economy of the state,” the official said.

The official said they will also see whether they can direct companies to provide the gig workers with health and accidental health insurance covers as done for regular employees.

“To us, there is not much difference between a gig worker and a contractual employee when it comes to work as both have to sign a contract with the employer,” the official said, adding that gig workers can be covered under the Occupational Safety and Health Risks guidelines of the government which provides for basic health facilities at the workplace.

Jaipur-based Uber driver, Vikas (40) hailed the government’s efforts to provide them with legal protection. “Earlier, companies used to charge 5% on every ride but now, they have increased their share to 25% and we cannot do anything. I hope the proposed law will address such issues too,” he said.

Vikas said that since 2020, the number of drivers associated with Ola and Uber in Jaipur have doubled in the wake of rising unemployment. With so many app-based cabs available, he said, achieving an incentive target of minimum 100 rides a week is almost getting impossible. “Even after working for extra hours, I am earning less than what I earned before the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.

App-based companies were not available for comments.

During the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Rajasthan last week, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi spoke about issues faced by gig workers and chief minister Ashok Gehlot had assured to provide them with legal identification in the budget session.

“In this 21st century, the gig workers are those who drive Ola or Uber and work to deliver for Zomato – we need to think about them. Those who work for the government are protected by the government and given pension, but crores of people who work for the gig economy don’t have a social security system or pension system – they aren’t protected. The government needs to think about them,” Gandhi said while addressing a gathering in Alwar on December 19.

A day later, Gehlot announced to bring in a law. “There was this man, who interacted with Rahul Gandhi during the Yatra and told how he went bankrupt. Now, we have decided to address the issue in the upcoming budget session and some provisions will be brought to give them relief and benefit,” he said.

Political analyst Manish Godha said gig employment is an emerging sector and providing the workers social security could be a big booster for Congress in the state.

“The move could help the Congress connect with the masses. No government in India has even thought of it till now, which gives an edge to the Congress,” he said.

On the proposed law, deputy leader of opposition Rajendra Rathore said the four budgets tabled by the Gehlot government and its execution show how serious they have been.

“The announcement of beggar-free Jaipur still lies in papers. Being the last year of the government, they (the Congress) will open a bag of announcements. This (law for gig workers) would also be another hollow promise,” he said.