NEW DELHI, 29 MAY

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday hailed as historic the Karnataka government's move to promulgate an ordinance aimed at providing social security to platform-based gig workers, stressing that this was the party's vision it would take to every state.

The ordinance, promulgated on Tuesday, also proposes the establishment of a welfare board and creation of a dedicated welfare fund for the gig workers.

“‘Not rating, we need rights; we are humans, not slaves.” These powerful words from gig workers stayed with me during the Bharat Jodo Yatra’,” Gandhi said in a post on X.

"Our Congress government in Karnataka has taken a historic step by issuing an ordinance that guarantees rights, dignity, and protection to gig workers... These workers bring us food, deliver essentials, and drive us safely – in the heat, cold and rain," he said.

“Yet, they are too often blocked from their apps without explanation, denied sick leave and paid according to opaque algorithms. We are changing that," Gandhi asserted.

The ordinance, he said, ensures social security, fair contracts, transparency in algorithmic pay and an end to arbitrary blocking. "Rajasthan showed the way. Karnataka has acted. Telangana is next," he said.

According to Gandhi, gig and platform work is creating new opportunities and reshaping work relationships, and workers' rights must be at the centre of this new arrangement.