Mains Practice Questions

Introduction: 

The gig economy, driven by digital platforms such as Zomato, Swiggy and Uber has emerged as a major employment generator in India. NITI Aayog projects gig workers to rise from 7.7 million in 2020 to 23.5 million by 2029-30. 

Body: 

Gig Economy- Empowering India’s Youth

• Job Creation and Flexibility: Provides short-term employment in a scenario of formal sector stagnation.
  • For example, delivery workers during festive seasons reported a 40–50% rise in earnings (Swiggy, Blinkit 2023).
  • Moreover, some workers use platforms like Rapido after their regular 9-to-5 jobs to supplement household income, reflecting the gig economy’s role as a secondary safety net for extra earnings.
• Bridge from Informal to Semi-Formal Work: Migrant workers from agriculture and construction now find structured income opportunities.
  • E.g., Ola and Uber absorbed thousands of underemployed youth into urban mobility.
• Digital Transformation and Economic Growth: Boosts digital literacy, payment adoption, and e-commerce penetration.
  • Platforms also contribute to tax revenues through GST and e-Shram integration.
• Inclusivity and Women’s Participation: Around 28% of gig workers are women, many opting for flexible home-based services.
  • Cultivating Entrepreneurship: Gig platforms label workers as “independent contractors,” fostering an entrepreneurial mindset.
    

Gig Economy-Creating Precarious Workers

• Lack of Social Security: Over 90% of gig workers lack savings or health insurance (NITI Aayog 2024).
  • Classified as “independent contractors,” they remain excluded from pensions, paid leave, or provident funds.
• Low and Unstable Wages: Fair Work India (2023) reports average earnings of ₹15,000–20,000/month—below minimum standards for 10+ hour workdays.
• Exploitation and Unsafe Work Conditions: The “Prisoners on Wheels” report: 78% of delivery workers work over 10 hours daily, risking road accidents due to tight delivery deadlines.
• Absence of Legal Protection: The 2020 Code on Social Security recognizes gig workers but does not ensure minimum wages or working-hour regulations.
• Algorithmic Control and Arbitrary Deactivation: In a survey, around 83% of cab drivers and 87% of delivery personnel have faced account deactivations without due process.
  • Workers often face harassment from customers with no grievance redressal mechanisms.
• Bleak Future Prospects: Without retirement savings, gig workers risk sliding into “new-age precariat”—informalized workers in a digital guise.

Turning Precarity into Empowerment

• Comprehensive Legal Framework: India needs a dedicated National Gig and Platform Workers’ Law ensuring rights similar to formal workers.
  • Provisions should include minimum wage guarantees, standard working hours, accident insurance, and protection from arbitrary deactivation.
• Portable Social Security: Gig workers frequently shift across multiple platforms (Swiggy, Blinkit, Ola), making platform-specific benefits ineffective.
  • A portable social security account linked to Aadhaar/e-Shram portal can ensure continuity of benefits like health, pension, and provident fund.
  • The Union Budget 2025–26 proposal to extend social security to gig workers through contributory models (platforms, state, and workers sharing costs) is a step in this direction.
• Skill Development Pathways: Most gig work today is concentrated in low-value tasks (delivery, driving), with limited growth prospects.
  • Linking gig platforms with Skill India, PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana, and digital skilling programs can help youth move into higher-value freelancing (AI services, coding, design, financial consultancy).
• Grievance Redressal Mechanisms: Platforms must establish independent grievance cells, accessible through multilingual apps, ensuring resolution of wage disputes, harassment, and deactivation cases.
  • An ombudsman system under state labor departments could monitor disputes and enforce accountability.
• Learning from State-Level Initiatives: Rajasthan’s Platform-Based Gig Workers Act (2023) created India’s first welfare board for gig workers, ensuring social security funds and grievance systems.
  • Replicating these models nationally can provide region-specific solutions, especially for urban delivery workers, rural platform workers, and women gig workers.

Conclusion: 

For the gig economy to empower rather than exploit, India must focus on the 3Gs- Guarantee of fair wages and social security, Growth through skilling and upward mobility, and Grievance redressal for dignity at work. Only then can gig workers evolve from digital labourers to drivers of India’s economic transformation.