BRS, Congress reach out to gig workers in State

Hyderabad: In an effort to woo the gig workers, both the BRS and Congress parties vied to reach out to the representatives of these App-based workers. They are engaged in delivering goods and passengers to destinations, some of them at lightning speed while risking lives.

This one of the major sectors where gig workers, mostly delivery boys are engaged, has an estimated to employed between 3 to 4 lakh in the State. These include workers of Ola, Uber, Swiggy, Zomato, and Amazon amongst others.

The Congress promised the gig workers welfare board, social security including insurance, and fair wages. Minister K T Rama Rao following his interaction with them, promised a ‘Tripartite Welfare Board’ for gig workers in Telangana. To ensure that the group of workers who are ignored for long are with Congress, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who will be in the City on Tuesday will also likely meet them.

The Declaration by Congress promises to pass a law for the welfare of gig workers in Telangana. It promises to constitute a gig workers welfare board, ensure social security for them including insurance and ensure fair wages for them after coming to power in Telangana. Representatives who earlier represented their demands to the party were also part of the meeting held in Gandhi Bhavan premises.

KTR who interacted with the representatives of the gig workers said that the BRS government would stand by them and hold talks with the companies to ensure health insurance, PF, and ESI were provided which would further create job security. He assured to set up a Tripartite Welfare Board for the gig workers after December 3. The board would include the companies, the Telangana government, and the gig workers. He also stated that the board would include a legal cell and if any company breaches the contract, the gig worker can approach the legal cell which will have a team of lawyers from the government side to legally take action.

During the interaction, a few workers mentioned how a few companies removed incentives and did not increase fair prices. KTR responded positively to this and stated that these companies operate not only in Telangana but also in other States and countries. Hence a detailed discussion would be made with the companies to come up with a solution for these problems.

When a gig worker asked why the Government could not launch an app that would help deliver food ordering, cab booking, and other online services, KTR said there was one such app operating in Kerala and he would study that and see if it could be emulated in Telangana.

Speaking to The Hans India, Shaik Salauddin, founder and State President of Telangana Gig And Platform Workers Union (TGPWU) said that a centralised tracking and management system that serves as a common portal for all financial transactions on the aggregator’s platform was much needed. This system provides a detailed breakdown of individual bills, including fares, commissions, payments to workers, fees, and taxes. “The Rajasthan Platform-based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Bill, 2023 has provided a model for the development of a welfare board to provide social protection and benefits for workers in Rajasthan. We urge the introduction of a similar social security framework for gig and platform workers in Telangana,” he urged.