Jaipur: Former chief minister Ashok Gehlot Wednesday urged the Centre to introduce a comprehensive welfare law for gig workers, modelled on legislation passed in Rajasthan, to protect them from exploitation by private companies.He urged the state govt to frame rules for the gig law enacted in Rajasthan during the previous Congress govt.
He said it was unfortunate that gig workers, especially delivery partners reliant on daily wages to support their families, were being pushed to go on strike as the country prepared to welcome New Year. In 2023, Rajasthan made history as India’s first state to pass the Rajasthan Platform Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Act, a landmark law promising social and financial security for its five lakh gig and platform workers. However, the rules for the same were not notified by the state’s BJP govt. “These are workers who earn daily wages to run their households, yet despite this, on a day when they are likely to get more orders, leaving their daily wages to go on strike is not their hobby, but an economic compulsion,” said Gehlot. “It is unfortunate that due to the current govt’s apathy in implementing that historic law, today these workers are having to struggle for their rights. The state govt should immediately frame rules for this law and implement it according to its original spirit to provide relief to them.” Gehlot said, “During the Bharat Jodo Yatra, gig workers met Congress functionary Rahul Gandhi and presented their plight before him. Understanding their pain, on Gandhi’s initiative, our Congress govt passed the country’s first ‘Rajasthan Platform Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Act, 2023’, so that they could get social security.” “Following Rajasthan’s lead, Karnataka’s Congress govt made a law for gig workers. The Centre should also make such a law on the lines of Rajasthan so that they can be protected from exploitation by private companies,” he added.
