A National Social Security Board will soon be established for gig workers, granting them employee status:Employee status includes benefits like pension, gratuity, and health insurance

News Topical, Digital Desk : A National Social Security Board for gig workers will soon be formed. Maharashtra Labour Minister Akash Fundkar said on Saturday that the central government has introduced a Social Security Code to expand the scope of social security for gig and platform workers. It provides for the formation of a National Social Security Board for the welfare of gig workers.

The minister informed the assembly that the board will provide health care, insurance, and family welfare benefits to gig workers. The center has directed all states to comply with and implement the provisions of the code.

"Gig and platform workers never had the status of workers and were treated as business partners with delivery-based payments. For the first time, the Social Security Code has defined the status of gig and platform workers," the minister said in response to a question in the Assembly.

He said that when the National Social Security Board is established, the state-specific laws made in Rajasthan and Karnataka will be abolished.

In another reply, the minister said the state government is in contact with officials from the National Textile Corporation to resolve pending payments to workers at closed mills in Mumbai. Gig workers include those who work on online platforms, work for contract firms, perform on-demand work, and are temporary workers.