Gig workers revel in newfound attention, seek social security

 Hyderabad: About 4.2 lakh gig workers across the state who weren't mentioned in the manifesto of any party have a reason to smile. All political parties have reached out to them as the election campaign came to end, which underscores the importance of their voting power.

"Afterthought or not, we are happy to be noticed, valued and recognised. Our cause and concerns are being heard and we hope they are addressed," said Aravinda Konnolu, a gig worker, when asked about the promises that the Congress and the BRS have made the gig workers.

The gig workers include delivery executives, porter services, cab, autorickshaw and two-wheeler taxi drivers, sanitation workers, among others.

Latha M., a sanitation worker, said her 15-year-old daughter, who studies in Class 10, was forced to work as a house-help in two apartments to pay school fees for her younger brother and herself.

“My husband works as a watchman. I live near Chaderghat and travel about 8 km to work. I leave early before dawn, and return only late in the evening. I have been doing all this for seven years, without a salary hike or permanent jobs," she said, as she took a three-minute tea break with her co-workers who all don’t want their children to have the same life.

" We do a job for money, but it’s how people see us that makes us worry," said Latha.

Prasenjit Sarkar, while explaining how his day looked to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who met with the workers to understand their issues on Tuesday, said, "When a dog charged towards my bike, I fell, and the flour I was carrying fell on to the road. Neither the customer nor my company understood my case and I ended up paying about Rs 300 from my pocket for the new packet and the petrol charged back to the store and the customer's home," he said.

Several workers like him said rising fuel prices eat into their income as customers don’t like to hike their payments.

Raghu Srikar, a two-wheeler taxi rider, said  most of his income goes into paying his EMI for the bike, and petrol charges.

Muthuvelu K., a delivery executive, said they have a stipulated number of orders to meet every day (about 30-35), and when they don't, they barely earn about Rs 1,000 a day, Rs 350 for fuel charges, leaving them with less than Rs 600 a day, with no holidays, rains, accidents, etc.

Many sought insurance cover and Provident Fund, which their companies don't provide. "It would be better if the government offers social security, just like the Rajasthan government did," said Shaik Salauddin, founder-president of Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPWU).

He said some of the requests that the gig workers union had put forward include social security law, welfare cess, creation of social security fund by charging a small fee on each transaction, a tripartite board comprising representatives from aggregators, worker organisations, and the government for administering social security schemes for gig and platform workers, a centralised tracking and management system that serves as a common portal for all financial transactions on the aggregator's platform.