Now Reading: Gig workers face hidden health crisis from skipped meals
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Gig workers face hidden health crisis from skipped meals
The Karnataka High Court declined to stay a law creating a welfare fund for app-based workers, but directed platforms like Zomato and Swiggy to deposit disputed fees since no scheme has been…
The Story in Brief
The Karnataka High Court declined to stay a law creating a welfare fund for app-based workers, but directed platforms like Zomato and Swiggy to deposit disputed fees since no scheme has been rolled out months after the law took effect. The court noted the Karnataka Platform-Based Gig Workers Act has yet to fund a single benefit.
A Telangana Today opinion piece highlights that piece-rate pay structures incentivise workers to skip meals, leading to malnutrition, both underweight and obesity. NITI Aayog projects gig workers will rise from 7.7 million in 2020-21 to 23.5 million by 2029-30, but official labour surveys still do not track them as a distinct category.
The Indian Opinion
The narrative that gig work offers only flexibility ignores the cost workers bear in health. Platforms argue over a few paise per ride while millions skip lunch to meet delivery targets. That no welfare scheme has been rolled out despite a law being in force is a failure of both state and company accountability. The real test will be whether the welfare fee ever translates into a meal break or health check-up for a single rider.
Source: telanganatoday.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
