The central government has made a historic and important announcement for gig and platform workers. Now these hardworking workers and their families will get health coverage of up to ₹ 5 lakh under the Ayushman Bharat scheme. Sumita Dawra, Secretary of, the Ministry of Labor and Employment, said in an exclusive interview that the process of extending the benefits of this scheme to gig workers is almost complete.

This step will provide health security to millions of gig workers in the country and bring a big change in their lives. So let us know about this revolutionary scheme in detail and who will benefit from it.

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The gig economy is growing rapidly in India

The gig and platform based economy is growing rapidly in India. According to NITI Aayog, more than one crore people will be employed in this sector by the financial year 2024-25 and this number is estimated to reach 2.35 crores by 2029-30.

The contribution of gig workers is constantly increasing in sectors like ridesharing, delivery, logistics and professional services. Given the increasing number of these workers, the government has taken this big step towards providing them social security.

One crore gig workers will get the benefit

A special social security scheme for online platform workers was announced in the Union Budget 2025-26. Under this, they will be registered on the e-shram portal, after which they will be provided identity cards.

Also, they will get health insurance cover under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY). Sumita Dawra told that this scheme will be implemented soon. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had set a target of benefiting one crore gig workers under this scheme in the budget.

Workers of Uber, Ola, Swiggy, and Zomato will benefit

Workers associated with online platforms like Uber, Ola, Swiggy and Zomato will get direct benefit from this scheme. According to the Social Security Code 2020, gig workers are individuals who work outside the traditional employer-employee relationship and earn their livelihood from various platforms. This move by the government will provide an important social security cover to all these hardworking workers.

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