Building a Wider
Horizon With Labour
In September last year, the Indian Federation of App Based Transport Workers [IFAT], a workers’ organisation consisting largely of gig transport workers, filed a public interest litigation at the Supreme Court of India, demanding social security benefits for gig workers engaged in transport and delivery services. The petition, which the court agreed to hear, raises the critical issue of the status of social security, and whether it is a fundamental right of workers, including of gig workers. This is particularly critical as the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a boost in gig jobs, which while allowing for flexibility of work, also contributes to precarity and entrenchment of informalisation.
