Telangana Gig and Platform Workers are requesting the Congress party to include a “social security Bill” in their manifesto for the 4.2 lakh workers employed in the state. These workers include drivers for Ola, Uber, Rapido, and Porter, as well as delivery partners for Swiggy, Zomato, Blink, Dunzo, Big Basket, Shadowfax, Amazon, and Urban Company, among others.
The Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPWU) president, Shaik Salauddin, and his team met with D Sridhar Babu, chairman of the Congress Manifesto Committee, to urge the introduction of a social security bill similar to the one recently launched in Rajasthan. The bill in Rajasthan aims to provide social security for gig and platform workers in the state.
In July, the Rajasthan Assembly passed a bill for the creation of a welfare board and a fund for platform-based gig workers in the state. Salauddin mentioned that this bill has provided a model for the development of a welfare board to provide social protection and benefits for workers in Rajasthan. He requested a similar bill from the Congress in Telangana.
Salauddin highlighted the benefits for gig workers in Rajasthan, such as a fee on each transaction deposited into a dedicated social security fund for their welfare. A tripartite board consisting of representatives from aggregators, worker organizations, and the government is responsible for administering social security schemes for gig and platform workers. All workers on the aggregator’s platforms are automatically registered with the board and eligible for benefits.
There is also a centralized tracking and management system that provides a breakdown of individual bills and transactions on the aggregator’s platform. Salauddin emphasized the importance of a binding law (social security bill) to ensure that these points are followed.
