The Telangana government has announced health insurance of Rs 10 lakh and accident insurance of Rs 5 lakh for gig workers. Chief minister A Revanth Reddy met a group on Saturday and promised them that their concerns will be addressed. The state government told them that an app will also be created for them.
The meeting was attended by workers from Swiggy, Zomato, Urban Company, Uber and Ola. Speaking to News18, Shaik Salauddin, founder president of Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union, said: “The CM promised that a law better than the one in Rajasthan will be implemented here. If an app is created by the government through which we can find work, we no longer have to pay 30 percent commission to platforms like Uber and Ola. The CM directed IT minister D Sridhar Babu to create the app in T-Hub.”
He added: “Another important promise made was that of a welfare board. The CM also asked the labour department to ensure that the workers are registered. The CM also said if expenses exceed Rs 10 lakh pledged through Arogyasri health scheme, extra financial assistance will be extended from the CM Relief Fund.”
Besides, the family of Mohammed Rizwan, a Swiggy delivery executive, will get Rs 2 lakh as compensation. He died in January after falling from a building while trying to hide from a dog. The amount will be given from the CM’s Relief Fund.
“One of our main demands was that the government should make it clear that the apps cannot continue their monopoly anymore, and that workers should be treated in a fair manner. The government has now asked the platforms to provide data on the workers so that our work can be made regular,” Salauddin said.
Major concerns of workers
The workers’ body, in their representation to the CM, raised a number of concerns:
- Almost all digital platforms set unilateral and discriminatory terms of employment and undermine the law of the land. Working conditions on digital platforms are largely regulated solely through AI algorithms.
- Contracts written in legal jargon, which are difficult to understand.
- Take-home earnings per-hour work fall below the statutory minimum wage level.
- Workers are exposed to health and safety risks, such as road accidents, occupational hazards and illnesses.
What has Rajasthan done?
In a first-of-its-kind law in India, the Congress-led Rajasthan government passed a bill for the formation of a welfare board as well as a fund for platform-based gig workers. While campaigning for the Telangana assembly elections, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had met gig workers and promised to work towards their welfare if voted to power.
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