NGOs want social security board set up for workers of app-based firms in state

Jaipur: Civil society groups have proposed to introduce a social security board to register all app-based platforms providing employment to gig workers and facilitating their access to social security schemes.
The move is intended to bring gig workers to the organised sector. In Jaipur alone, 25,000 people are working with app-based food, products and delivery services with no cover from the state. Notably, Rajasthan is the first state to have announced a fund of Rs 200 crore for gig workers and announced to formulate the gig workers welfare Act.
Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) in a detailed proposal to the state government argued that the status of app-based workers is that of forced/bonded labour. “The gig workers economy is organized in a manner where the aggregators or digital platform companies get away by terming their role as mere intermediaries instead of principal employers leaving them to suffer,” said Nikhil Dey of MKSS. The body argued that the false perception needs to be amended because if an entity controls work conditions, work hours and work output, which the digital platforms and aggregator companies do, then the entity must be considered an employer.
The report said the absence of a dispute redressal mechanism and any safety net from the state has subjected the workers to extended work hours, no fixation of price, and changes in work rules and commission rate.