New Boards Aim to Extend Social Security to Gig and Platform Workers
The Central Government has taken a significant step toward broadening social security coverage by issuing a notification for the formation of National Social Security Boards. The boards will focus on unorganised sector workers, gig workers and platform workers.
The Ministry of Labour and Employment confirmed the development in an official statement issued on Friday. According to the ministry, the boards have been constituted under the Code on Social Security and will be responsible for recommending and monitoring welfare schemes meant for crores of workers.
The Union Minister for Labour and Employment will chair the boards. Members will include representatives from the Centre and states, aggregator companies, industry, civil society organisations, trade unions, and gig and platform workers.
The boards are tasked with recommending appropriate social security schemes for different categories of workers and advising the government on implementing the Social Security Code. They will also oversee welfare schemes run by the Centre, review record keeping arrangements in states, and examine expenditure from the social security fund.
The boards will convene at least three times a year. The Central Government will set out the procedures and rules governing their meetings.
The ministry expects the boards to play an important role in addressing the absence of social security for the rapidly growing gig and platform workforce. Lakhs of workers currently engaged in online delivery, ride-hailing, logistics and digital platform-based services have long needed stronger social protection.
The government said the Social Security Code provides a statutory framework for social security measures meant for unorganised, gig and platform workers. Labour laws have also undergone wide-ranging reforms in recent years.
In a discussion held in September, industry leaders, trade unions, experts and senior officials said the new labour codes signal a shift from control-based regulation to a cooperation-based labour system.
Labour Secretary Chandra Bhushan Kumar had said at that time that the reforms have integrated multiple laws, simplified compliance, launched digital portals, harmonised return filing and brought greater uniformity to the definition of wages. These steps are designed to strengthen worker protection while lowering the compliance burden on businesses.
The government views the formation of the National Social Security Boards as a key milestone in bringing workers in the unorganised sector and the gig economy within the formal social security framework.