Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced that gig workers would be eligible for healthcare facilities under the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) scheme and would benefit nearly a crore of them.
“Gig workers of online platforms provide great dynamism to the new-age services economy. Recognising their contribution, our Government will arrange for their identity cards and registration on the e-Shram portal. They will be provided healthcare under the PM Jan Arogya Yojana,” said Sitharaman in her budget speech. So it is on the basis of their registration and a UAN (universal account number) that they can avail facilities.
The Jan Arogya Yojana provides a cover of Rs 5 lakh per beneficiary family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization across public and private empanelled hospitals in India. However, the details on whether the families of gig workers will be covered or not are yet to be provided.
Who are gig workers?
Gig workers are involved in income-earning activities outside of standard, long-term employer-employee relationships. So they are in the informal sector. Most common examples of gig workers include platform-based work where workers earn money by providing specific services, including food delivery services like Zomato, Swiggy or e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Flipkartuse gig workers.
Does this help in Universal health coverage?
Dr KS Reddy, distinguished professor of Public Health Foundation of India, feels that commitment to universal health coverage begins with the most vulnerable section. PMJAY has identified many sections like the elderly, ASHA and Anganwadi workers. “At least people in formal employment are covered by employment health insurance schemes. So it’s important that gig workers who are vulnerable to several health problems, particularly since they work under stressful conditions and quite often extreme weather conditions, should be provided. It is a part and parcel of extending the ambit of universal health coverage which is in a state of evolution but adding one more section is always helpful in providing coverage,” he said.
Since the nature of a gig worker’s employment is temporaryhe feels it is important to provide these people some degree of insurance.
What are the challenges in implementing the cover?
Shaik Salauddin, national general secretary, Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT), says for these schemes to be fully effective, aggregator companies must share data on gig and platform workers with the government. Without mandatory data-sharing with the e-Shram portal, many workers will be unable to access these benefits. “The Government of India must ensure strict implementation and accountability, making it compulsory for all platform companies to register workers and contribute towards social security schemes. There is a need to ensure contributions by aggregator companies towards social security schemes for gig and platform workers”, he said.
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He said it is further important to strengthen the integration of e-Shram registration for gig and platform workers with existing welfare schemes. Registration alone will not suffice to ensure that gig workers can access the full benefits of these initiatives.
According to Santosh Kumar, a member of the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers’ Union (TGPWU), the Code on Social Security enables the formulation of schemes covering life and disability cover, accidental insurance, health and maternity benefits and old-age protection for gig and platform workers. “However, despite a five-year-long struggle, workers continue to await a comprehensive national law, a dedicated welfare board, and full implementation of these measures,” he said.
