Hyderabad: Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT) members, led by Sheikh Salauddhin from Hyderabad, met Mansukh Mandaviya, Union minister for labour and employment in Delhi, on Friday, October 18, to address various concerns of the platform and gig workers across the country.
Key demands raised by the platform and gig workers’ representatives included setting up a tripartite welfare board consisting of representatives from the government, the workers’ body, and the platform aggregators, to discuss and make legislation on the rights of gig workers in India.
Other demands included setting up a grievance redressal system, ensuring minimum income for the workers, assurance of workers’ health and safety, and lawmaking to ensure working women’s rights.
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The Union minister, after listening to the union representatives, and discussing the government’s take on Indian gig workers, assured the workers’ union representatives that their demands would be met.
The major development from the meeting was that a committee was formed to create a framework for social security and welfare benefits for the platform workers.
The minister announced that the gig workers will have an aggregator module on the government’s e-Shram Portal, which is designed for the country’s unorganised workers. The module was found satisfactory by the union representatives after the module was checked and tested with major gig aggregators.
The gig workers’ association suggested their input towards the aggregator module, including the aggregator companies in India be mandated to register every employee working with their platform on the e-Shram portal.
The workers’ representatives also demanded that the aggregator companies should ensure algorithms and data are maintained transparently. They also demanded that companies enrol their employees on the state and national portals, and provide welfare schemes to their employees.
