Suboptimal outcomes: On social security boards for unorganised, gig, platform workers

One year after the implementation of the Code on Social Security, the Union Labour Ministry has constituted the National Social Security Boards for Unorganised Workers and Gig and Platform Workers. The constitution of the boards, though delayed, is a welcome step. However, the highly centralised nature of this mechanism may hinder its optimal outcomes. By design, the Union Government controls both the Boards: they will be chaired by Union Minister for Labour Mansukh Mandaviya. The Board for Unorganised Sector Workers will have 40 members, nominated by the Union Government. They include seven members representing unorganised sector workers and seven members representing employers of the unorganised sector. Similarly, the Board for the welfare of gig and platform workers will have 22 members with five representatives each from the aggregators and the workers. But they have no significant representation of Central Trade Unions from the Opposition side or from the State Governments ruled by the Opposition. Labour is in the Concurrent List of the Constitution and both the States and the Union must work together to improve the living standards of workers.The International Labour Organization defines social security as the ‘protection that a society 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’. The Union Government claims that the country’s social security coverage has increased from 19% in 2015 to 64.3% in 2025, which is around 94 crore citizens. However, it is apparent that the unorganised and gig and platform workers, who make up more than 92% of the country’s total workforce, are far from enjoying any social security under this definition. Almost two decades ago, the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector, headed by economist Arjun Sengupta, recommended a slew of measures to improve the social security of workers in the informal sector. The issues raised by the panel still remain unaddressed. A report prepared by Justice V. Gopala Gowda for the Keralam Government in March this year flagged certain anti-federal and anti-worker characteristics in the Social Security Code and suggested amendments. The Union Government should take the trade unions and the State Governments on board while creating new systems and mechanisms to address the social security concerns of the vast majority of workers. Published - October 31, 2026 12:53 am IST