NITI Aayog releases report on "India's booming gig and platform economy"

Tags: National News

Recently NITI Aayog released a report titled 'India's Booming Gig and Platform Economy'.

• According to the report the Indian gig workforce is expected to expand to 23.5 million workers by 2029-30, a 200% jump from the current 7.7 million.

• The report estimates that gig workers will constitute 4.1% of the total workforce in India by 2029-2030, up from 1.5% now.

• In the year 2020-21, 77 lakh (7.7 million) workers were engaged in the gig economy. Which constituted 2.6% of the non-farm workforce or 1.5% of the total workforce in India.

• Major issues raised in the report

• Job and income insecurity: Gig workers do not benefit from labour regulations relating to wages, hours, working conditions and the right to collective bargaining.

• Occupational safety and health risks: Workers engaged in employment with digital platforms, especially women workers in app-based taxi and delivery sectors, face various occupational safety and health risks.

• Gig economy

• The gig economy is a free market system in which there are simple temporary positions and organisations contract with independent workers for short-term engagements.

• According to a report by Boston Consulting Group, India's gig workforce employs 15 million employees in industries such as software, shared and professional services.

• According to the 2019 India Staffing Federation report, India is the fifth largest country in flexi-staffing globally after the US, China, Brazil and Japan.

• Gig worker: A person who works or participates in work arrangements and earns income from such activities outside the traditional employer-employee relationship".

• India's gig sector potential

• An estimated 56% of new jobs in India are being generated by gig economy companies in both blue-collar and white-collar workforce.

• The gig economy can provide 90 million jobs in the non-farm sectors in India, with the potential to increase GDP by a further 1.25% in the "long term".