India's efforts to empower gig & contractual workers

gig workers

By Nikhil Srivastava 

The recent Union Budget has underscored the government’s commitment to worker welfare by announcing the inclusion of 1 crore gig workers under the PM Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) healthcare scheme. Alongside this, the government will provide identity cards to these workers upon their registration on the e-Shram portal— a move that signals greater formalisation and access to essential social security benefits for India’s rapidly growing gig economy.

For too long, gig workers—who now form a crucial part of the modern workforce—have operated in a grey zone, with limited access to healthcare, financial security, and job stability. This lack of formal recognition has not only left them vulnerable but also deprived them of the basic dignity of employment. By extending social security benefits to gig workers, the government is addressing a long-standing gap and reinforcing the idea that every worker, regardless of their employment model, deserves fundamental social security.

A case in point is Haryana’s HKRN (Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam), which has taken significant steps toward worker security in contractual employment. Under HKRN, contractual government workers are provided with Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) and Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) benefits, ensuring both long-term financial security and health coverage. By introducing a similar approach at the national level for gig workers, the central government is reinforcing the idea that all workers, regardless of their employment model, deserve fundamental protections.

With roughly 40% of its 4 lakh government employees in Haryana being contractual, there were multiple challenges faced by these contractual government employees. The initial recruitment challenges led to hiring underqualified staff and staffing shortages. Post-hiring, employees faced delays in payment, lack of benefits, and insecurity. Departments dealt with opaque, contractor-run systems, causing financial losses and inefficiencies.

In response to these challenges, the Government of Haryana launched Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam (HKRN) in 2021, aiming to improve the hiring process and benefit distribution for contract employees. The reform strategy underpinning HKRN includes two pivotal components: the creation of a centralised nodal agency responsible for streamlining staffing and contract administration for contract employees, and the development of a technologically advanced platform, designed as a one-stop digital platform to efficiently manage the entire lifecycle of contract-based manpower recruitment and administration.

The move to centralise the state’s contract government hiring has standardised job roles and eligibility requirements, bringing significant benefits to all contract workers. By removing the middleman, the centralisation ensures that employees receive their full entitlements, including total salary, paid leave, and social security benefits like Employee State Insurance (ESI) and Employee Provident Fund (EPF). Additionally, the new technical infrastructure provides automated registration, verification of prior work experience, notification of selection, and a sophisticated job-matching algorithm, enhancing the overall employment experience for contract workers.

Over the last two years, HKRN has transformed the contractual employment sector in Haryana. The initiative successfully integrated over 1 lakh existing contract workers and facilitated numerous new recruitments, with a keen focus on job distribution to reserved categories and Antyodaya families. Noteworthy improvements include expedited job onboarding, increased net salaries, and high satisfaction levels across employees and employers. HKRN's efficacy is further underscored by its contribution to superior financial management, lowered attrition rates, and the enhanced calibre of personnel in government sectors.

Haryana’s experience with HKRN serves as a proof of concept, demonstrating how governments can successfully extend welfare benefits to contractual workers, ensuring their financial and social security. By aiming to bring gig workers under PM-JAY and formalising their identity through the e-Shram portal, the Union Government has signalled its intent to replicate and scale such worker-centric initiatives at a national level. This is a welcome move, acknowledging the evolving nature of work and reinforcing the principle that all workers deserve access to essential protections.

(Nikhil Srivastava, Senior Consultant at Samagra, a mission-driven governance consulting firm.)

Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication.