The Karnataka Labour Department has received Rs 10 crore in financial assistance from the finance department, which will be used as a corpus fund to provide Rs 4 lakh in health insurance coverage to gig workers. The Karnataka Labour Department has issued a government order to that effect.
Although exact official figures are unavailable, the state is said to have more than two lakh gig workers.
A portal for gig workers will be launched soon, where they will be able to register and apply for the scheme. The beneficiaries will be identified through a certification procedure. The scheme’s detailed framework will be ready for implementation soon.
This scheme will benefit gig workers in the unorganised sector, including e-commerce delivery workers employed by companies such as Amazon, Swiggy, Zomato, and others.
The government of Karnataka is not the only one concerned about its gig workers. Earlier this month, the Rajasthan government approved the draught regulation titled ‘Rajasthan Part-Time Contractual Hiring Rules-2023,’ which provides retirement benefits to part-time employees of the state’s administrative departments.
That is, contract employees will receive the same benefits as full-time employees. In other words, they will be eligible for financial assistance in the range of Rs 2-3 lakh as part of their retirement benefits. This will be given to part-time employees when they retire or in the event of their death.
