Centre notifies social security boards for unorganised, gig workers; unions question makeup

The Union Labour Ministry has notified the constitution of two national boards to design, monitor and recommend welfare schemes for unorganised workers and for gig and platform workers — a step the Ministry described as bringing platform professionals into the country's formal welfare architecture.

Under the notification, the National Social Security Board for Unorganised Workers will have 40 members, while the National Social Security Board for Gig and Platform Workers will have 22. Union Minister for Labour and Employment Mansukh Mandaviya is chairman of both boards, and the Union Labour Secretary is vice-chairman.

The boards will include representatives of the Central and State governments, aggregator companies, employers, civil society organisations, workers' unions, and associations representing gig and platform workers. Labour department officers from Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat are members.

Others on the boards include representatives of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, Laghu Udyog Bharati, aggregator companies such as Eternal Group (formerly Zomato Limited), Swiggy Limited, Zepto Limited, Urban Company and Rapido, the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers, the V.V. Giri National Labour Institute and the Dattopant Thengadi Board for Workers Education and Development.

What the boards will do

The mandate of the boards is to design, monitor and recommend targeted welfare schemes for gig and platform workers and for traditional unorganised workers. Their functions include recommending suitable schemes for different sections of these workers, advising the Union government on the administration of the social security law, monitoring welfare schemes, reviewing record-keeping at the State level, and reviewing expenditure from the fund and account. They will also take up any other functions assigned by the Union government from time to time.

The boards are required to meet at least three times a year, and the Union government will prescribe their rules of procedure.

The Ministry said the boards have been constituted under the statutory framework of the Code on Social Security, 2020, which consolidated nine central labour laws and provides for such bodies. "Established under the statutory framework of the Code on Social Security, these boards mark a historic shift by integrating digital gig and platform professionals into India's formal welfare architecture," the Ministry said in a statement.

Concerns from workers' groups

The announcement drew a mixed response. All India Trade Union Congress general secretary Amarjeet Kaur said the constitution of the boards is heavily tilted towards the Union government and that they are filled with unions and employers' organisations she described as pro-BJP.

Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers co-founder Shaik Salauddin said the success of the boards will be measured by the benefits that actually reach workers and their families.

The notification does not set out a timeline for the framing of schemes, and the boards are mandated to recommend and advise; decisions on schemes and expenditure rest with the Union government. The boards' composition, meanwhile, places State labour departments, platform companies and worker representatives at the same table — a structure that will be tested when specific schemes are drawn up.

Background

Delivery and ride-hailing workers in India are generally engaged as independent contractors rather than employees, which has left most of them outside employer-linked provident fund, health and accident cover. Worker organisations have for years sought social security protection for this category, and the Code on Social Security, 2020, was the first central law to define gig workers and platform workers and to provide for welfare measures for them.

The two boards notified on Friday are the first national bodies set up specifically to channel such measures. How quickly they translate into registered workers receiving benefits will be watched closely by unions, companies and State governments alike.