On June 27, 2022, NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog’s report titled ‘India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy- Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work’ was launched by its Vice Chairman Suman Bery, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Amitabh Kant and Special Secretary Dr. K Rajeswara Rao.
- It is a first-of-its-kind study that presents comprehensive perspectives and recommendations on the Indian gig–platform economy.
What is the Gig Economy/Sector?
It is a labour market in which instead of a traditional, in-office, full-time job with a single company, gig workers work as short-term, temporary/freelance, or independent contractors for one or a variety of employers.
- Gig is a word for a job that lasts a specified period of time.
- Gig workers can be broadly classified into platform and nonplatform-based workers.
Platform workers are those whose work is based on online software apps or digital platforms. While, non-platform gig workers are generally casual wage workers and own-account workers in the conventional sectors, working part-time or full time. - It even goes on to term platform labour as the “Fourth Industrial Revolution”.
Need behind this report:
The gig workforce remains invisible as there is no official data to authoritatively estimate the extent of gig work in the country. This report provided a scientific methodological approach to estimate the current size and job potential of the sector.
Key Findings:
i.In 2020–21, 77 lakh (7.7 million) workers were engaged in the gig economy which constituted 2.6% of the non-agricultural workforce or 1.5% of the total workforce in India.
ii.The gig workforce is expected to expand to 2.35 crore (23.5 million) workers by 2029–30 comprising 6.7% of the non-agricultural workforce or 4.1% of the total livelihood in India.
- The Indian gig workforce is expected to expand to 23.5 million workers by 2029-30, a near 200 percent jump from 7.7 million by 2020–21.
- Gig workers will form 4.1 percent of the total workforce in India by FY30, from 1.5 per cent FY21
iii.At present, about 47% of the gig work is in medium skilled jobs, about 22% in high skilled, and about 31% in low skilled jobs.
iv.In terms of industrial classification in FY20, 26.6 lakh gig workers were involved in retail trade and sales, and about 13 lakh were in the transportation sector.
- About 6.2 lakh persons were in manufacturing and another 6.3 lakh in the finance and insurance activities.
v.The retail sector saw an increase of 15 lakh (1.5 million) workers during FY12 to FY20, transport sector, 7.8 lakhs (0.8 million); manufacturing sector, 3.9 lakhs (0.4 million).
- In the education sector, the expansion was from 66,000 to more than one lakh by 2019-20.
Key Recommendations by Report:
The recommendations in this report will serve as a crucial resource for ministries, state governments, training providers, platform companies and other stakeholders to work in collaboration for promoting growth and employment opportunities in this sector. These include the following:
i.Accelerating access to finance through products specifically designed for platform workers, linking self-employed individuals engaged in the business of selling regional and rural cuisine, street food, etc., with platforms to enable them to sell their produce to wider markets in towns and cities.
ii.Extending social security measures to gig workers and their families, including sick leave, insurance, and pension as envisaged in the Code on Social Security 2020.
Click Here for Official Report
Recent Related News:
i.On April 11, 2022, NITI Aayog has launched the 1st State Energy & Climate Index (SECI)-Round I April 2022 at an event chaired by Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog. It is based on 2019-20 data.
ii.NITI Aayog, India’s leading policy think tank, has inked a Statement of Intent (SoI) on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with an emphasis on children with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) India.
About NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India):
CEO – Amitabh Kant (his tenure ends on June 30, 2022, and will be replaced by Parameswaran Iyer)
Establishment– 2015
Headquarters– New Delhi, Delhi
