• According to the report titled “India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy,” released by Niti Aayog, the number of workers engaged in the gig economy is estimated to be 77 lakh in 2020-21 and it will grow to 2.35 crore by 2029-30.
• They constituted 6% of the non-agricultural workforce or 1.5% of the total workforce in India.
• According to the analysis, the employment elasticity of gig workers to GDP growth was consistently higher than the general employment elasticity from 2011–12 to 2019–20.
• Niti Aayog 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 the gig workforce in the country.
• The think tank has also recommended introducing a ‘Platform India initiative’, on the lines of the ‘Startup India initiative’, built on the pillars of accelerating platformisation by simplification and handholding, funding support and incentives, skill development, and social financial inclusion.

What is the gig economy?

• A gig economy is a free market system in which temporary positions are common and organizations hire independent workers for short-term commitments.
• The term “gig” is a slang word for a job that lasts a specified period of time.

Gig Workers

• Gig workers are those engaged in livelihoods outside the traditional employer-employee arrangement.
• The Niti Aayog report broadly classifies gig workers into platform and non-platform-based workers.
• 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.
• Examples of gig workers include freelancers, independent contractors, project-based workers and temporary or part-time hires.

Model Question

Q. With reference to the “gig economy”, which of the following statements are correct?

1. Gig economy is a free market system in which organizations hire independent workers for short-term commitments.
2. Gig workers are those engaged in livelihoods outside the traditional employer-employee arrangement.
3. Freelancers, independent contractors, project-based workers and part-time hires are examples of gig workers.

Which of the statements given above is /are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1 and 2 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: D

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