High-level consultation on extending social protection to gig and platform workers in India
27 October 2023
Given the rapid expansion of digital labour platforms, gig and platform work is fast emerging as an important avenue for employment globally. The ILO India office, in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and Employment, hosted a high-level consultation on the “Challenges and opportunities of extending social protection frameworks to gig and platform workers in India”.
NITI Aayog estimates that there were 7.7 million gig and platform workers in India in 2020, and the size of this workforce is expected to grow almost three-fold by 2029-30 to about 23.5 million. The ILO’s flagship report, World Employment and Social Outlook 2021, highlighted that “the majority of workers on digital labour platforms do not have social security coverage”. This highlights the crucial need for ensuring social protection for the largely unorganized workforce, to advance decent work for all.
Against this backdrop, the consultation’s two primary objectives were:
- Identify the challenges and opportunities for extending social protection to gig and platform workers. It also sought to develop recommendations for actionable policy interventions and capacity-building needs for key stakeholders.
- Building and consolidating relevant networks for collaboration and facilitating strengthened coordinated efforts through social dialogue with ILO constituents, platform organizations, academia and other key stakeholders going forward for the benefit of gig and platform workers in India.
Senior officials from the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Ministry of Commerce, NITI Aayog, various international governments, Employers’ and Workers’ organizations, platform organizations, private sector, civil society representatives, foundations, academia, and other stakeholders in the gig and platform economy attended the workshop.
Key participants included Ms. Arti Ahuja (Secretary), Ramesh Krishnamurthi (Additional Secretary) Dr Pradeep Kumar Jena (Director) Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India, Mr Amitabh Kumar (Joint Secretary) Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, Dr Shahra Razavi, Director, International Labour Organization, HQ, Geneva, Dr Sakshi Khurana, Senior Specialist (NITI Aayog) Mr Sanjay Bhatia ( Ex-President) All India Organization of Employers) Mr Hiranmay Pandya ( President) Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, key representatives from platform aggregators, academia and civil society.