Hindi English Translation || Editorial || Promising Bill: On the Rajasthan Platform-based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Bill, 2023

Promising Bill: On the Rajasthan Platform-based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Bill, 2023

Rajasthan’s initiative to set up a gig workers’ welfare board heralds good tidings (खबर)

With an estimated eight million people employed in an industry built on the back of (के पीछे, के कारण) the smartphone revolution, “gig” work has become a major source of jobs for youth in India. It goes without saying that in a country where informal labour and unemployment have defined the nature of the jobs market in the last decade (दशक, दस वर्ष की अवधि), the gig economy (A gig economy is a free market system in which temporary positions are common and organizations hire independent workers for short-term commitments. The term “gig” is a slang word for a job that lasts a specified period of time) has been a beneficial outlet (avenue, channel, way out) of employment. This is especially true of youth and migrant (प्रवासी) workers, as they seek (try, aim, attempt) a ready and quick means (way, method, mode) of securing (सुरक्षित करना) finances and flexible hours — an option used by informal workers who have used gigs for moonlighting (it means having a second job in addition to the main one). With growing smartphone use and a reliance on (confidence in, dependence, belief in) apps for daily needs and purposes, the gig economy is only set to flourish (फलना फूलना) in terms of (with regard to, regarding, concerning, in respect of, with reference to) usage and opportunities. Yet, increased competition among platforms and the availability of a cheap labour force have led to a lowering of incentives (प्रेरणा, प्रोत्साहन) for gig workers even as their workload and uncertainty (अनिश्चितता) of work hours have increased significantly relative to pay, which has also become insufficient for many. Adding this to the fact that (यह तथ्य कि) gig workers are not recognised as “workers” but partners by most aggregating (adding several things together) platforms and that they lack any social security (सामाजिक सुरक्षा) or related benefits due to them as “workers”, working conditions have become increasingly harsh in an industry that is no longer a fledgling (अनुभवहीन) one. This is now evident in growing flash strikes (a sudden strike by the employees without giving any prior notice to the employer) by gig workers.

Seen in this light, the decision by the Rajasthan government, to deliver a Rajasthan Platform-based Gig Workers (independent contractors or freelancers who typically do short-term work for multiple clients) (Registration and Welfare) Bill (A Bill is a draft statute that becomes law after it is passed. All legislative proposals are brought before Parliament in the forms of Bills (or) draft statute/law, proposed legislation, proposal (presented to parliament/congress/council for discussion)), 2023, should be welcomed (receive, embrace), even if it will be introduced before the Assembly elections later this year. While the draft Bill envisages (परिकल्पना करना) a “welfare board” that will design welfare policies and hear grievances (शिकायत) of gig workers on a piece rate basis (an employment system where the employers pay their employees per item of work completed, rather than per hour or at a fixed yearly salary), the specificities (विशेषता) of the policies and how they might benefit the workers are still un clear. The board is expected to work towards a social welfare corpus which will be financed by a cess (a form of tax charged/levied over and above the base tax liability of a taxpayer. A cess is usually imposed additionally when the state or the central government looks to raise funds for specific purposes) on the digital transactions made by consumers on the platforms that utilise the gig worker labour. This schema is not unfamiliar — platform workers in the transport sector in Thailand and Malaysia, for instance (as an example), benefit from health and accident insurance as well as social security that is financed by a deduction of 2% for every ride. Recently, the Union government passed the Code on Social Security (one of four labour codes), which also allowed for some social security for gig workers, but the scheme only remains on paper (in theory, theoretically, supposedly) without proper implementation (imposition, enforcement, execution, carrying out). If Rajasthan’s pioneering (groundbreaking, trailblazing, pathfinding, ambitious, progressive, innovative) draft Bill takes off, other States could be compelled to utilise similar measures (action, step, procedure) to ensure the welfare (well-being, security, prosperity; social security, government/state benefit, public assistance) of gig workers.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.tidings (noun)

Hindi Meaning - खबर
English Meaning - news, information, reports.

2.on the back of (phrase)

Hindi Meaning - के पीछे, के कारण
English Meaning - due to, as a result of, because of.

3.informal sector (noun)

Hindi Meaning - अनौपचारिक क्षेत्र
English Meaning - informal economy, grey economy is the part of an economy that is neither taxed, nor monitored by any form of government.

4.decade (noun)

Hindi Meaning - दशक, दस वर्ष की अवधि
English Meaning - a period of ten years.

5.migrant (noun)

Hindi Meaning - प्रवासी
English Meaning - a person who moves from one region to another - either within a country or across national borders in order to find work or better living conditions.

6.secure (verb)

Hindi Meaning - सुरक्षित करना
English Meaning - obtain, acquire, gain, get.

7.flourish (verb)

Hindi Meaning - फलना फूलना
English Meaning - thrive, develop, prosper (successfully).

8.incentive (noun)

Hindi Meaning - प्रेरणा, प्रोत्साहन
English Meaning - reward, bonus (given to employees as a result of good work or an achieved target).

9.uncertainty (noun)

Hindi Meaning - अनिश्चितता
English Meaning - unpredictability, unreliability, riskiness/precariousness.

10.the fact that (phrase)

Hindi Meaning - यह तथ्य कि
English Meaning - used to refer to a specific situation under consideration/discussion.

11.social security (noun)

Hindi Meaning - सामाजिक सुरक्षा
English Meaning - Social security is the protection that a society/government provides to individuals and households to ensure access to health care and to guarantee income security, particularly in cases of old age, unemployment, sickness, invalidity, work injury, maternity or loss of a breadwinner; welfare, government/state benefit, public assistance

12.fledgling (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - अनुभवहीन
English Meaning - emerging, beginning, developing, growing, rising, burgeoning; promising, potential, up-and-coming.

13.envisage (verb)

Hindi Meaning - परिकल्पना करना
English Meaning - conceive, imagine, envision, think, perceive, apprehend.

14.grievance (noun)

Hindi Meaning - शिकायत
English Meaning - complaint, protestation, protest, criticism, problem, objection.

15.specificity (noun)

Hindi Meaning - विशेषता
English Meaning - the quality of being specific.

16.promising (adjective)

English Meaning - good, encouraging, hopeful, optimistic, positive, heartening, reassuring.

17.Bill (noun)

English Meaning - A Bill is a draft statute that becomes law after it is passed. All legislative proposals are brought before Parliament in the forms of Bills (or) draft statute/law, proposed legislation, proposal (presented to parliament/congress/council for discussion).

18.gig worker (noun)

English Meaning - independent contractors or freelancers who typically do short-term work for multiple clients.

19.herald (verb)

English Meaning - signal, indicate, foretell, point to, announce, spell, usher in.

20.go without saying (phrase)

English Meaning - be obvious that it does not need to be said or explained; be self-evident, be understood, be accepted.

21.informal labour/worker (noun)

English Meaning - a labour/worker who engages in productive activities (in an informal sector of an economy) that are not taxed or registered by the government.

22.gig economy (noun)

English Meaning - A gig economy is a free market system in which temporary positions are common and organizations hire independent workers for short-term commitments. The term “gig” is a slang word for a job that lasts a specified period of time.

23.outlet (noun)

English Meaning - avenue, channel, way out.

24.seek (verb)

English Meaning - try, aim, attempt.

25.means (noun)

English Meaning - way, method, mode.

26.gig (noun)

English Meaning - temporary or freelance job (on the basis of demand).

27.moonlighting (noun)

English Meaning - it means having a second job in addition to the main one.

28.reliance on (noun)

English Meaning - confidence in, dependence, belief in.

29.set to (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - to begin actively; to start doing something vigorously.

30.in terms of (phrase)

English Meaning - with regard to, regarding, concerning, in respect of, with reference to.

31.led past participle of lead to (verb)

English Meaning - result in, cause, bring on, bring about, give rise to.

32.aggregating (adjective)

English Meaning - adding several things together.

33.lack (verb)

English Meaning - be without, want, need.

34.flash strike (noun)

English Meaning - a sudden strike by the employees without giving any prior notice to the employer.

35.seen in this light (phrase)

English Meaning - it means “to give a different perspective to something”.

36.welcome (verb)

English Meaning - receive, embrace.

37.piece rate basis (noun)

English Meaning - an employment system where the employers pay their employees per item of work completed, rather than per hour or at a fixed yearly salary.

38.corpus (noun)

English Meaning - (in finance) total amount of money; collection.

39.Cess (noun)

English Meaning - a form of tax charged/levied over and above the base tax liability of a taxpayer. A cess is usually imposed additionally when the state or the central government looks to raise funds for specific purposes.

40.for instance (phrase)

English Meaning - as an example.

41.Code on Social Security, 2020 (noun)

English Meaning - An Act to amend and consolidate the laws relating to social security with the goal to extend social security to all employees and workers either in the organised or unorganised or any other sectors and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

42.on paper (phrase)

English Meaning - in theory, theoretically, supposedly.

43.implementation (noun)

English Meaning - imposition, enforcement, execution, carrying out.

44.pioneering (adjective)

English Meaning - groundbreaking, trailblazing, pathfinding, ambitious, progressive, innovative.

45.take off (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - succeed, do well, become popular, work out.

46.measure (noun)

English Meaning - action, step, procedure.

47.welfare (noun)

English Meaning - well-being, security, prosperity; social security, government/state benefit, public assistance.