We always fulfil promises made to hardworking people: Rahul Gandhi after Rajasthan passes bill for gig workers

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday hailed the Rajasthan government for getting a bill on the welfare of gig workers passed in the Assembly, saying "we always stand with the poor and hardworking people" of the country and fulfil promises to them. Gandhi's remarks came two days after the Rajasthan Assembly on Monday passed a bill for the formation of a welfare board as well as a fund for platform-based gig workers in the state and to facilitate social security for them.

The Platform-Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Bill, 2023, was passed in the Assembly without a debate amid uproar by the opposition members in the House.

In a tweet in Hindi, Gandhi said the Congress government in Rajasthan has brought in a new law, the first in India, to give more than three lakh gig workers of the state their rights and self-respect.

"This law will provide financial security to the workers of the gig economy and will become the basis of reliable employment for crores of youth," he said.

"During the Bharat Jodo Yatra, I met many gig workers, some taxi drivers, and some delivery persons - uncertain future in work, and also risky due to always being on the streets. All of them said one thing, they work hard day and night but they do not have any financial security, neither the government listens to them, nor brings any concrete plan for them," the Congress leader said.

This is also being discussed in Karnataka and in the recent budget in that state, accident insurance of up to Rs 4 lakh was announced for them, Gandhi said.

"We are making policies that help them as well as those who employ them," he said.

"We always stand with the poor and hardworking people of India, so that they get the fruits of their 'tapasya'. Whatever we promise to them, we fulfil it. When every hardworking person of the country gets economic strength and full rights, then only India will unite!" he said.

The bill passed by the Rajasthan Assembly defines a gig worker as a person who performs work or participates in a work arrangement and earns from such activities outside of the traditional employer-employee relationship and who works on contract that results in a given rate of payment, based on terms and conditions laid down in such contract and includes all piece-rate work.

It aims to constitute a Welfare Board and to set up a welfare fund for platform-based gig workers, to register the workers and aggregators in the state and to facilitate social security for the gig workers.

The minister in charge of the Labour Department will be the chairperson of the board and at least one-third of its nominated members will be women.