Gig-platform economy: NITI Aayog report claims 2.35 crore employment by 2029-30

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By Our Special Correspondent

New Delhi, June 27: Gig-platform economy is a generic term for digital-driven short-term employment opportunities, and NITI Aayog in a report released on Monday said that the emerging eco-system created 77 lakh jobs in 2020-21.

The NITI Aaayog’s report also claimed that the Gog-platform economy will create three times more jobs by 2029-30, 2.35 crore to be precise.

An Ola can driver or a person coming to homes for haircuts from an App-based service provider would qualify for Gig-platform economy.

The rapid urbanization and the proliferation of the start-ups, who are sitting on huge personal database, sourced in bulk from unscrupulous elements, who are thriving in the absence of the personal data protection laws, are stated to be driving the Gig-platform economy in India.

“In 2020–21, 77 lakh (7.7 million) workers were engaged in the gig economy. They constituted 2.6 per cent of the non-agricultural workforce or 1.5 per cent of the total workforce in India. The gig workforce is expected to expand to 2.35 crore (23.5 million) workers by 2029–30,” said the report.

It further stated that the Gig workers are expected to form 6.7 per cent of the non-agricultural workforce or 4.1 per cent of the total livelihood in India by 2029–30.

At present, about 47 per cent of the gig work is in medium skilled jobs, about 22 per cent in high skilled, and about 31 per cent in low skilled jobs.

“Trend shows the concentration of workers in medium skills is gradually declining and that of the low skilled and high skilled is increasing,” added the NITI Aayog report.

NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Bery released the ‘India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy’ report.

“This report will become a valuable knowledge resource in understanding the potential of the sector and drive further research and analysis on gig and platform work,” said Bery.

The sector is gaining strength on the basis of rising urbanization, widespread access to internet, digital technologies and smartphones in India.

To harness the potential of the gig-platform sector, the report recommends accelerating access to finance through products specifically designed for platform workers, linking self-employed individuals engaged in the business of selling regional and rural cuisine, street food, etc., with platforms to enable them to sell their produce to wider markets in towns and cities.

The report puts forth suggestions for platform-led transformational and outcome-based skilling, enhancing social inclusion through gender sensitization and accessibility awareness programmmes for workers and their families and extending social security measures in partnership mode as envisaged in the Code on Social Security 2020.