The Code on Social Security, 2020 names ‘gig worker’ and ‘platform worker’ in Indian statute for the first time. Examine the recognition-versus-disbursement gap and the structural challenges of social security for India’s 90% informal workforce.
Subtopic: Indian Society · Population — Informal Labour
How to structure your answer
Introduction: About 90% of India's workforce is informal, generating roughly 50% of GDP. The Code on Social Security, 2020 was notified into force on 21 November 2025, defining gig and platform workers for the first time.
Body — three dimensions: (1) Scale — ILO India Employment Report 2024 puts informal employment at nearly 90%; e-Shram crossed 31.38 crore registrations as of November 2025; women 53.68% of registrants. (2) Gig growth — NITI Aayog (2022) projects gig workforce 77 lakh (2020-21) to 2.35 crore by 2029-30, 4.1% of total livelihood; women 28% share. (3) The gap — recognition without aggregator contributions actually flowing into the Social Security Fund; portability missing; PM-SYM and Atal Pension Yojana coverage thin.
Conclusion: Build a portable, contribution-based floor on the e-Shram rails — accident cover, maternity, pension — funded by a 1–2% aggregator levy as proposed by NITI Aayog.
Written within the word limit
219 words · target 250 words · 14 min
Introduction:
Roughly 90% of India's workforce is informal, generating about half of GDP. The Code on Social Security, 2020 — notified into force on 21 November 2025 — named 'gig worker' and 'platform worker' in Indian statute for the first time. The challenge now is converting statutory recognition into actual social-security disbursement.
Scale of informality: The ILO India Employment Report 2024 places informal employment at nearly 90%; the e-Shram portal crossed 31.38 crore registrations by November 2025, with women making up 53.68% (PIB, March 2025). Informal workers face wage volatility, no pension, no insurance and no maternity entitlement.
Gig segment: NITI Aayog (June 2022) projected the gig workforce to grow from 77 lakh (2020–21) to 2.35 crore by 2029–30, around 4.1% of total livelihood, with women at 28% and 47% medium-skilled. Platforms like Zomato, Swiggy, Urban Company, Ola and Uber depend on this 'aggregator-mediated' workforce while classifying them as partners, not employees.
Recognition vs disbursement: The Code envisages a Social Security Fund financed by aggregator contributions, but rules for collection and benefit portability are still skeletal; PM-SYM and Atal Pension Yojana coverage remains thin. Rajasthan's Platform-Based Gig Workers Welfare Act, 2023 — with a 1–2% aggregator cess — is the first operational state model; Karnataka has tabled a parallel Bill.
Conclusion:
Build a portable contribution-based floor on the e-Shram rails — accident cover, maternity and pension funded by a uniform aggregator levy, modelled on the BOCW cess — to make Code recognition meaningful in practice.
What an examiner expects to see
- Code on Social Security, 2020 notified 21 November 2025
- About 90% of workforce informal, ~50% of GDP
- ILO India Employment Report 2024 — 82% workers in informal sector, 90% informally employed
- e-Shram registrations 31.38 crore as of 27 November 2025
- Women 53.68% of e-Shram registrants (PIB, March 2025)
- NITI Aayog (June 2022) — gig workforce 77 lakh → 2.35 crore by 2029-30
- Women 28% of gig workers; 47% medium-skilled, 22% high-skilled
- PM-SYM pension for unorganised workers, ₹3,000/month after 60
- Rajasthan Platform-Based Gig Workers Welfare Act, 2023 — first state law
Concrete cases, schemes and judgments
- Zomato, Swiggy, Urban Company, Ola, Uber as ‘aggregators’
- Rajasthan's 1–2% aggregator cess — first state model
- Karnataka Platform-Based Gig Workers Bill 2024
- BOCW cess as precedent for sectoral welfare funds