Centre constitutes social security board for gig, unorganised workers

The three-year board will advise the Centre on welfare schemes for gig, platform and unorganised workers, with representatives from aggregators, trade unions and state governments.

The Centre on Friday said it had constituted the National Social Security Boards for unorganised workers, and gig and platform workers under the Code on Social Security, 2020 (CSS). The two boards will advise the government on social security measures for these sections of workers.  

 

The boards have been constituted with a tenure of three years, headed by the Union Minister for Labour and Employment as chairperson. The labour secretary will serve as vice-chairperson on the boards, according to a ministry notification.

 

Under Section 6 of the Code on Social Security, NSSB is mandated to recommend social security schemes for different categories of unorganised workers, advise the Centre on matters relating to their welfare and monitor the implementation of social welfare schemes. Section 114(6) provides that the same board will also discharge these functions for gig and platform workers, with a separate set of members replacing those in the unorganised workers' composition.

  

The composition of the board for unorganised workers comprises representatives of trade unions, employers’ organisations, civil society, Members of Parliament, central ministries and state governments. The labour ministry’s Director General (DG) Of Labour Welfare will serve as its ex-officio member-secretary.

 

The board for gig and platform workers includes five representatives from aggregators, namely, Eternal Group, Swiggy, Zepto, Urban Company and Rapido. The worker representatives will include two members from the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT), and one each from Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), National Front of Indian Trade Unions (NFITU) and Trade Union Coordination Centre (TUCC).

 

Other members of the board for gig and platform workers are the Director General of the Employees' State Insurance Corporation of the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), the Central Provident Fund Commissioner of the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). The five state governments represented in this board are Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and West Bengal.

 

It will also comprise two expert members from the V V Giri National Labour Institute and the Dattopant Thengadi Board for Workers Education and Development under the labour ministry.

 

A joint secretary in the labour ministry will serve as its member-secretary of the NSSB for gig and platform workers.

 

Key provisions of CSS

 

Section 114 of the Code on Social Security provides for the framing of social security schemes for gig and platform workers covering life and disability protection, accident insurance, health and maternity benefits, old-age protection and crèche facilities. It also provides for the setting up of a Social Security Fund to finance such schemes through contributions from the Centre, state governments, aggregators and other sources.

 

Under the Code, aggregators are required to contribute between 1 per cent and 2 per cent of their annual turnover towards social security, subject to a ceiling of 5 per cent of the amount paid or payable to gig and platform workers. The Centre is required to notify the rate of contribution and the date from which the provision will come into effect.