Thegovernments policy think tank has recommended that measures should be taken to provide for social security, including paid leave, occupational disease and work accident Insurance, support during irregularity of work and pension plans, for thegig workforce in the country, which is expected togrow to 2.35 crore by 2029-30.
According to the study released by Niti Aayog on Monday, the number of workers engaged in the gig economy is estimated to be 77 lakh in 2020-21.
It added that platform workers are termed as independent contractors and as a result, they cannot access many aspects of workplace protection, and entitlements.
The report broadly classifies gig workers those engaged in livelihoods outside the traditional employer-employee arrangement into platform and non-platform-based workers. While platform workers are those whose work is based on online Software apps or digital platforms, non-platform gig workers are generally casual wage workers and own-account workers in the conventional sectors, working part-time or full time.
While in 2020-21, the gig workforce constituted 2.6% of the non-agricultural workforce or 1.5% of the total workforce in India, by 2029-30, gig workers are expected to form 6.7% of the non-agricultural workforce or 4.1% of the total livelihood workforce in India, the study added.