Context
Despite the expansion of India’s gig and platform economy, a large share of gig workers remain outside government welfare coverage. While e-Shram registrations have increased, only about 8.58 lakh gig workers were registered by January 2026, compared with NITI Aayog’s estimate of 1.27 crore gig workers in 2024-25.
Explanation
- Gig workers earn through short-term, task-based work outside the traditional employer–employee relationship; platform workers obtain such work through online platforms.
- NITI Aayog estimated about 77 lakh gig workers in 2020-21 and projected their number to reach 2.35 crore by 2029-30.
- The e-Shram portal, launched in 2021 by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, creates an Aadhaar-seeded National Database of Unorganised Workers (NDUW).
- It covers unorganised workers, including gig and platform workers, and facilitates access to eligible social-security benefits.
- The Code on Social Security, 2020 formally recognises gig workers and platform workers and provides for framing social-security schemes for them.
- Such schemes may cover life and disability, accident insurance, health and maternity benefits, and old-age protection.
- Low and uneven registrations indicate challenges in identification, formal registration and welfare delivery to a mobile and fragmented workforce.
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