delivery boy and cab driver
There is good news for millions of employees associated with the rapidly growing gig economy in the country. Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) is now preparing to bring gig and platform workers also under its social security ambit. If this scheme is implemented, then food delivery partners, cab drivers, freelancers working on online platforms and other gig workers will also be able to avail the benefits of facilities like health insurance and social security.
What is ESIC’s scheme?
The government and ESIC are working towards ensuring that gig workers also get the benefits of social security like organized sector employees. Under this, there is a plan to provide benefits of medical facilities, accident insurance, maternity benefits and other important social security schemes to the employees.
For this, work is also going on to collect data of gig workers and connect them with a systematic system. It is believed that e-Shram portal can also be used in this process, so that identification of eligible employees can be made easier.
Gig economy is growing rapidly
With the expansion of online food delivery, e-commerce, cab services and other digital platforms in India, the number of gig workers is continuously increasing. At present there are about 1 crore gig and platform workers in the country. This number is expected to reach 2.5 crore in the coming years. In view of this increasing number, the government wants to create a strong social security structure for the employees of this sector.
There will be partnership between companies and government
To implement the scheme, coordination will be made between the government, ESIC and various digital platform companies. Registration of employees can be done through the data of platform companies and e-Shram portal, so that the benefits can reach the eligible people directly.
There are still many challenges left
However, many issues are yet to be decided before implementing this scheme. These include deciding which gig workers will come under its purview, how funding will be arranged and how benefits will be given to employees working on different platforms.
If this scheme is successfully implemented, then for the first time crores of gig and platform workers in the country will be able to get the benefits of social security like organized sector employees. This will strengthen their economic security and will also provide new support to the gig economy.
