Covid-19: Reimagining laws to provide adequate protection to gig workers

Some experts for bringing gig workers under the ambit of the contract labour Act; others want a new rulebook

The Covid-19 pandemic may force policymakers to revisit the draft Social Security Code, 2019, to provide adequate protection to gig workers from inherent frailties of the model, and in times of crisis, say experts.

The government last week unveiled an Rs 50,000-crore employment scheme to boost livelihood opportunities in rural areas for pandemic-hit migrant workers. However, no such income booster is in the offing for thousands of platform-based gig economy workers, working largely outside the ambit of the country’s labour law regulations.   

In the pandemic induced lockdown, most such workers experienced a drastic loss of income security. Many were forced to