The Niti Aayog has released the report titled “India's Booming Gig and Platform Economy”.
What is a gig economy?
In a gig economy, temporary, flexible jobs are commonplace and companies tend to hire independent contractors and freelancers instead of full-time employees.
The gig economy can benefit workers, businesses, and consumers by making work more adaptable to the needs of the moment and the demand for flexible lifestyles.
Gig workers engage in livelihoods outside the traditional employer-employee arrangement.
Classification of gig workers
Platform workers are those whose work is based on online software apps or digital platforms such as food aggregator platforms Zomato, Swiggy, Ola, and others.
Non-platform workers are generally casual wage and own-account workers in conventional sectors, engaged part-time or full-time.
Platform workers are termed as “independent contractors”.
What has the Niti Aayog study revealed?
Gig workforce- According to the report of NITI Aayog, the Indian gig workforce is expected to expand to 23.5 million workers by 2029-30, a near 200% jump from 7.7 million now.
Skills- The report stated that gig work is expanding in all sectors, but 47% of the jobs are medium-skilled, about 22% are high-skilled, and about 31% are low-skilled.
Female labour force participation- The Niti Aayog noted that female labour force participation in India has remained low, oscillating between 16% to 23% in the last few years.
Persons with disabilities- PwD who make up for 2.11 to 10% of India’s population, have a labour force participation rate of 36%.
Issues with the gig sector
lack of job security
irregularity of wages
uncertain employment status
no access to many of the workplace protections and entitlements
What are the recommendations of Niti Aayog?
Platformisation- The think tank has recommended introducing a ‘Platform India initiative’, on the lines of the ‘Startup India initiative’, built on the pillars of accelerating platformisation.
It has suggested that self-employed individuals engaged in the business of selling regional and rural cuisine may be linked to platforms so that they can sell their produce to wider markets.
Credit facility- Access to institutional credit may be enhanced through financial products specifically designed for platform workers and those interested to set-up their own platforms.
Venture capital funding, grants and loans from banks and other funding agencies should be provided to platform businesses of all sizes at the pre-revenue and early-revenue stages.
Fiscal incentives- Tax-breaks or startup grants may be provided for businesses that provide livelihood opportunities where women constitute a substantial portion (30%) of their workers.
Social security- The Aayog’s report also said that social security benefits be extended to workers in a partnership mode, as envisaged in the Code on Social Security, 2020.
