Government’s steps for half -concert workers need national social security architecture for them, says Congress

Jairam Ramesh Congress leader. File | Photo credit: PTI

The Government has only committed to the “little enthusiastic” steps of registering concert workers in E-Shram and including them under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, Congress said on Sunday (February 2, 2025). National Legal and Social Security Architecture for such workers.

The Congress attack occurred one day after the Minister of Finance, Nirmala Sitharaman, announced a social security scheme for workers of a crore concert involved with online platforms and said that the Government will provide them with identity cards and facilitate their Registration on the E-Shram portal.

Mrs. Sitharaman had said that these workers will receive medical attention under the PM-Jan Arogya Yojana.

In a publication on X, Jairam Ramesh, general secretary of Congress, Jairam Ramesh, said that the government has finally awakened with the pain of Indian workers, but that it has only “committed to halfway” to register them in E-shram and include them under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Aregya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).

The opposition leader at the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has been a main voice for Indian concert workers from the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Ramesh said.

The governments of the Congress in Telangana and Karnataka, and the former Government of Congress in Rajasthan, have brought a powerful legislation to provide justice to concert workers.

Social Security for concert workers was also a key guarantee granted by the Nyay Patra of the Indian National Congress for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he said.

The Government has a long way to go before catching up with the state laws of the Congress for the welfare of concert workers, Ramesh said.

“For example, the Concert Workers Law Project (Social Security and Welfare) based on the Karnataka platform, 2024 is historical legislation based on the rights that brings formal and social security rights to concert workers based on platforms In the state, “he said.

Citing some key characteristics of the legislation, Ramesh said that it establishes the Social Security and Welfare Fund of the GIG worker, as well as the GIG workers’ welfare board to advocate the workers. Ask for the mandatory registration of all concert workers with the government, Ramesh said.

According to the provisions of the bill, Ramesh said that aggregators can no longer cancel a worker without giving a prior notification of 14 days and a valid reason and aggregators must make payments to concert workers every week.

“As much as state governments can do, India needs a national legal and social security architecture for concert workers. The detention steps of the Government of the Union are far from enough,” Ramesh said.