JAIPUR: Congress-governed Telangana's draft Gig and Platform Workers (Registration, Social Security, and Welfare) Bill is reigniting a conversation that the party's erstwhile stronghold, Rajasthan, once led - only to let the momentum slip.
As the desert state's pioneering 2023 Rajasthan Platform-Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Act lies entangled in red tape, bike taxi rider Krishna Kumar Chaudhary wakes up each morning knowing exactly how his day will end - exhausted, barely breaking even, and unable to secure a better future for his son.
For thousands like him in Rajasthan's gig economy , the 2023 law signalled hope that has since evaporated in the cycle of political transition, bureaucratic delay, and corporate pressures.
Krishna Kumar, general secretary of the Rajasthan Gig and App-based Workers' Union, earns Rs 700-1,000 daily ferrying passengers on his motorbike. After accounting for platform fees (Rs 100), petrol (Rs 300 approx) and maintenance (Rs 100), he is left with a maximum of Rs 400.
"My room rent alone is Rs 4,000 a month. I borrow from friends to survive. I want my son to study in a private school, but I can't afford it," Kumar says.
Gul Mohammed Mansoori, 50, works for a goods transport company that operates through a platform and leaves drivers to fend for themselves when customers don't pay.
"The platforms deduct a 12% commission on each trip but take no responsibility for non-payment of dues. Drivers are asked to pursue customers for payments. I earn around Rs 3,000 a week and occasionally Rs 5,000 - but that's not enough," he tells TOI.
Mansoori makes Jaipuri quilts, especially during the lean season, to earn a few thousand extra rupees.
Rajasthan's attempt to legislate protection was the first such initiative in the country, promising social and financial security for an estimated five lakh employees driving the state's Rs 25,000-crore gig economy.
Enacted by the then Ashok Gehlot govt, it aimed to create a welfare board, establish a Rs 200-crore welfare fund, and impose a 2% cess on aggregators to provide health and accident insurance, pensions, provident fund, and school education for children of workers,
The Bhajan Lal Sharma led-BJP govt announced an allocation of Rs 350 crore in this year's state Budget to the Gig and Unorganised Workers Development Fund, a Rs 100-crore increase over last year's outlay. It remains unclear when the corpus will be created, or how the benefits will reach the intended targets.
Home minister Amit Shah's announcement of a cooperative framework for 50 lakh app-based drivers nationwide has rekindled a semblance of hope.
The model, allowing registration of two-wheelers, taxis, rickshaws, and four-wheelers, aims for democratic management and equitable profit distribution among drivers.
Under the umbrella of the National Campaign for Cooperatives in Platform and Transport Economy, gig workers are also in talks with the Union cooperatives ministry for a taxi cooperative called "Sahkar Taxi" that will enable drivers to operate as entrepreneurs without having to pay commissions to existing platform service-providers.
NITI Aayog projects India's gig economy will grow to 2.35 crore workers by 2029-30. Gig unions, like the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT), propose funding social security through taxes, cess, CSR, platform contributions, and more. IFAT's national general secretary, Shaik Salauddin, says home minister Shah's cooperative model must involve workers to avoid replicating exploitative practices. "We need driver-led models that prioritise rights over profits. We are ready to collaborate for a true alternative."
Jaipur taxi driver Suresh Prajapati, 26, awaits the day workers like him don't have to depend on platforms. "If driving is your only source of income, relying on Ola or Uber won't suffice. I make ends meet by building my base of personal customers. I have registered with the Centre's e-Shram portal in the hope that there will be some benefits someday."
As the desert state's pioneering 2023 Rajasthan Platform-Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Act lies entangled in red tape, bike taxi rider Krishna Kumar Chaudhary wakes up each morning knowing exactly how his day will end - exhausted, barely breaking even, and unable to secure a better future for his son.
For thousands like him in Rajasthan's gig economy , the 2023 law signalled hope that has since evaporated in the cycle of political transition, bureaucratic delay, and corporate pressures.
Krishna Kumar, general secretary of the Rajasthan Gig and App-based Workers' Union, earns Rs 700-1,000 daily ferrying passengers on his motorbike. After accounting for platform fees (Rs 100), petrol (Rs 300 approx) and maintenance (Rs 100), he is left with a maximum of Rs 400.
"My room rent alone is Rs 4,000 a month. I borrow from friends to survive. I want my son to study in a private school, but I can't afford it," Kumar says.
Gul Mohammed Mansoori, 50, works for a goods transport company that operates through a platform and leaves drivers to fend for themselves when customers don't pay.
"The platforms deduct a 12% commission on each trip but take no responsibility for non-payment of dues. Drivers are asked to pursue customers for payments. I earn around Rs 3,000 a week and occasionally Rs 5,000 - but that's not enough," he tells TOI.
Mansoori makes Jaipuri quilts, especially during the lean season, to earn a few thousand extra rupees.
Rajasthan's attempt to legislate protection was the first such initiative in the country, promising social and financial security for an estimated five lakh employees driving the state's Rs 25,000-crore gig economy.
Enacted by the then Ashok Gehlot govt, it aimed to create a welfare board, establish a Rs 200-crore welfare fund, and impose a 2% cess on aggregators to provide health and accident insurance, pensions, provident fund, and school education for children of workers,
The Bhajan Lal Sharma led-BJP govt announced an allocation of Rs 350 crore in this year's state Budget to the Gig and Unorganised Workers Development Fund, a Rs 100-crore increase over last year's outlay. It remains unclear when the corpus will be created, or how the benefits will reach the intended targets.
Home minister Amit Shah's announcement of a cooperative framework for 50 lakh app-based drivers nationwide has rekindled a semblance of hope.
The model, allowing registration of two-wheelers, taxis, rickshaws, and four-wheelers, aims for democratic management and equitable profit distribution among drivers.
Under the umbrella of the National Campaign for Cooperatives in Platform and Transport Economy, gig workers are also in talks with the Union cooperatives ministry for a taxi cooperative called "Sahkar Taxi" that will enable drivers to operate as entrepreneurs without having to pay commissions to existing platform service-providers.
NITI Aayog projects India's gig economy will grow to 2.35 crore workers by 2029-30. Gig unions, like the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT), propose funding social security through taxes, cess, CSR, platform contributions, and more. IFAT's national general secretary, Shaik Salauddin, says home minister Shah's cooperative model must involve workers to avoid replicating exploitative practices. "We need driver-led models that prioritise rights over profits. We are ready to collaborate for a true alternative."
Jaipur taxi driver Suresh Prajapati, 26, awaits the day workers like him don't have to depend on platforms. "If driving is your only source of income, relying on Ola or Uber won't suffice. I make ends meet by building my base of personal customers. I have registered with the Centre's e-Shram portal in the hope that there will be some benefits someday."
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