BHUBANESWAR: The announcements for social security and healthcare in the Union Budget has been welcomed by the gig workers in the state.
The central government will bring one crore gig workers under PM Jan Arogya Yojana healthcare scheme and offer them identity cards following registration on the e-Shram portal, Union Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in the budget on Saturday.
“Currently, we are identified as partners by the online platforms that we work for. But the payments are made as per the orders delivered and there are no job benefits or security. This is for the first time, some measures have been announced for us. The Jan Arogya Yojana will at least assure us of healthcare coverage,” said Rakesh Tarenia, a delivery agent of Swiggy. Food delivery platforms pay between Rs 30 and Rs 90 per order (no fixed delivery pattern) while for those working in logistics delivery, get a salary ranging from Rs 8,000 to Rs 20,000 with a fixed schedule.
Sambeet Patnaik, who is into logistics delivery, said a long-standing demand of gig workers for social security will be fulfilled with their registration on e-Shram portal as it opens access to government schemes and benefits. It is a big step towards formalising the gig economy, he said.
Although there is no official count on how many gig workers are currently working in the state, former Union minister of state for Labour and Employment Rameswar Teli had informed in the Lok Sabha that Odisha had 52,123 workers (27,335 male, 24,781 female, 7 transgenders) in the sector in 2021.
Sources said the number has increased by almost 30-40 pc now as several new online platforms have come up besides, services like Blinkit, Instamart and popular food aggregators Swiggy and Zomato. There are several local online platforms too.