Secretary of the Department of Skills Development and Entrepreneur Rajesh Aggarwal and Director-General of the National Labor Center V.V. Giri also attended the event. NITI Aayog today launched a report entitled ‘India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy’. The report was released by NITI Aayog Deputy Chairman Suman Bery, CEO Amitabh Kant and Special Secretary Dr. K Rajeswara Rao.
This report is the first of its kind to present comprehensive ideas and recommendations on the gig-platform economy in India. The report provides a scientific approach to measuring current size and ability to create jobs in the sector. It highlights the opportunities and challenges of the emerging sector and presents the best practices in the world in terms of social security systems and outlines strategies for skills development and job creation in the various sectors of the workforce in the sector.
Speaking at the event, NITI Aayog Deputy Chairman Suman Bery said, “This report will be an important resource for understanding the potential of the industry and furthering research and analysis on gig work and the field.” CEO Amitabh Kant highlighted job creation opportunities. of this sector in terms of urban growth, widespread internet access, digital technology and smartphones in India. He said, “The recommendations in this report will serve as an important resource for the houses of ministers, provincial governments, training providers, stadium companies and other stakeholders to work together to promote growth and job opportunities in the sector.”
Special Secretary Dr. K Rajeswara Rao presented the key findings and recommendations of the report. The report estimates that by 2020-21, 77 lakh (7.7 million) workers were involved in the gig economy. They make up 2.6% of non-agricultural workers or 1.5% of all Indian workers. Gig staff is expected to grow to 2.35 crore (23.5 million) for employees by 2029-30. Gig workers are expected to make up 6.7% of non-agricultural workers or 4.1% of the total livelihood in India by 2029-30. Currently, about 47% of gig work is in medium-skilled jobs, about 22% are high-skilled, and about 31% are low-skilled jobs. Trend shows that the number of middle-skilled workers is slowly declining and that of low-skilled and highly skilled workers is growing.
To harness the power of the gig-platform sector, the report recommends accelerating financial access to products designed for stage staff, connecting self-employed people engaged in the business of selling regional and local food, street food, etc., and platforms. so that they can sell their product in a wide range of markets in cities and metropolitan areas. The report outlines platform-based skills and outcomes-based skills, improving community inclusion through gender awareness programs and access to employees and their families and extending community safety measures to collaborative mode as proposed in the Community Safety Code 2020. Other Recommendations and a forum and data collection during the Periodic Labor Force Survey to identify gig staff.
