New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Jai Ram Ramesh on Sunday criticized the union Budget and said that Government’s commitment to ease pain of Indian gif workers is half hearted. He said that the central government was behind the state legislations introduced by the Congress governments for the welfare of gig workers.
In a post on X, Jai Ramesh sHARED “The Government has finally awoken to the pain of India’s gig workers but has only committed to the half-hearted steps of registering them on e-SHRAM and including them under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY). The Government has a long way to go before catching up to the Congress party’s state legislations for gig worker welfare.”
The former Union Minister credited Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi for being the leading voice for them. He said that Congress governments in Telangana and Karnataka have already brought legislation for their benefit.
“Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi has been a leading voice for India’s gig workers since the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Congress Governments in Telangana and Karnataka, and the former Congress Government in Rajasthan, have brought powerful legislation to bring gig workers justice. Social security for gig workers was also a key guarantee given by the Indian National Congress’s Nyay Patra for the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections,” the Congress leader said.
Citing the Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Bill of 2024, Ramesh said that it was a landmark rights-based legislation that formalised the rights and security of gig workers in Karnataka.