Safety net

A silent army has been powering India’s quick commerce, logistics, and food businesses. Unicorns have been built, IPOs launched, and super successful entrepreneurs ordained rockstar statuses — all at the back of this army’s sweat and blood. They zip past at breakneck speed, carrying bags double their size. Come hail or storm, they almost always show up, delivery in hand, sometimes with a smile. The gig workers of the Indian economy have been the bedrock of recent startup strength. And when jobs are hard to come by, these roles provide gainful employment to thousands. Yet for long, something as basic and taken for granted as social security eluded them. Some companies made piecemeal attempts, while others cleverly sidestepped responsibilities. But not anymore.

Our labour unions may not be able to bring the nation to a grinding halt as before, and the new labour code threatens to further minimise their influence. Labour unions would play a key role in advocacy of labour rights, but are increasingly becoming a shadow of their former militant self. Gen Z and Alpha haven’t seen the might of trade unions, when a ‘chakka jam’ (road blockade) literally meant that. No public transport, no open shops, staff sent back home, and offices forcibly shut down. In our childhood, the word ‘bandh’ actually meant something serious (along with being a holiday from school and college). It wasn’t the puerile excuse for labour protests that we sometimes witness today. Back then, ‘andolan’ was needed to instil labour rights. After decades of rallying, worker rights were largely protected in India. Some aspects of the new labour code are still contentious and raise concerns about laying off workers without the need for state approval. But at least for the gig workers, the new code brings some good tidings. With the new economy, new kinds of workers emerged, whose rights had long been neglected. Over the years, gig workers have protested for their rights in bits and spurts, but have failed to rally any large-scale people’s movement. The Social Security Code will now finally create a secure work environment for them.

The Code on Social Security (CoSS), 2020, which finally came into effect last week, mandates that aggregators and platforms must contribute 1-2 per cent of their yearly turnover, with a cap of 5 per cent, to the Social Security Fund to safeguard gig workers. Along with official recognition and availability of social security, gig workers are now liable to receive formal appointment letters, which can help them get access to banking, credit, and loans. While the guarantee of minimum wages, safe working conditions, timely payments, free annual health-checks up, and access to grievance redressal provide effective tools to this working class. Obviously, discussions are rife on who will bear this additional cost. Experts have started opining on the impact of these additional costs on a company’s bottom line. There is also discussion on passing a part of the expense onto customers, thereby inflating the service cost.

The government is working on a national framework for the gig workers to ensure uniform implementation across states. There is also no doubt that it will take some time and effort on all fronts to enable the law to come into practice sooner rather than later. Times such as these are particularly intriguing for social observers such as myself. Obviously, there are business costs to consider. But if unicorns and decacorns have been built with the toil of labour, why shouldn’t more be done to protect the hands that built them? The lust for money is endless, as is the myopic vision to save every penny of it. True leaders are governed by altruism, and while in a capitalist society, public good is often relegated to the background, thankfully, India is still governed by democratic socialism.

Views expressed are personal. The writer is an author and media entrepreneur