Hyderabad: Over 4.2 lakh gig and platform workers in Telangana have asked Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to pass a new law called the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers (Rights and Welfare) Bill, 2024.
The workers want the government to make strict rules, set up welfare boards, and give them social security benefits like ESI, PF, maternity leave, and pensions. They are also asking for fair wages as the number of quick-commerce workers is growing fast in the city and the state. Currently, there are no social security measures for gig workers.
There are more than 4.2 lakh gig workers in Telangana, with 85 percent of them based in Hyderabad. The number of these workers is increasing not just in the city but across the state and the country. Despite this, there have been no government laws or benefits for them since these platforms started in 2012.
Shaik Salauddin, the president-founder of the Telangana Gig and Platforms Workers Union (TGPWU), said that the Congress government had promised to protect gig workers’ livelihoods but has done nothing so far. He mentioned that the government had also promised to develop a government-run app, but this has not happened yet. Salauddin stressed the need for comprehensive measures to protect the rights and welfare of gig and platform workers. He noted that MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi met with TGPWU leaders this week, discussed their issues, and promised to raise their demands in the State Assembly.
The workers are asking to be treated as employees and to implement a social security code. According to the Code on Social Security (Central) Rules, 2020, gig and platform workers should get benefits like life and disability cover, health and maternity benefits, old age protection, education, PF, employment injury benefits, housing, educational schemes for children, skill upgradation, funeral assistance, and old age homes. However, many of these benefits have not been provided yet, Salauddin pointed out.
The online platforms that these app-based workers use include Ola, Uber, Swiggy, Zomato, Rapido, Blinkit, Shadowfax, Zepto, Amazon, Big Basket, Dunzo, Flipkart, and Urban Company.
