The Union government has notified a new 40-member National Social Security Board (NSSB) for gig and platform workers, giving six of the 14 seats set aside for workers and employers to two RSS-linked bodies, while leaving out most recognised trade unions.
The Ministry of Labour and Employment issued the notification on Friday. The board is mandated under the Code on Social Security to design, monitor and recommend welfare schemes that would close the social security gap faced by gig workers. Its members are nominated by the government for a three-year term.
Of the 40 seats, seven are for representatives of unions and seven for representatives of employers. The remaining members come from government departments and Parliament.
According to The Indian Express, as cited by Maktoob, the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), the trade union affiliated with the RSS, has been given three of the seven union seats. Laghu Udyog Bharati, an RSS-linked organisation that works for micro, small and medium enterprises, has been given three of the seven employer seats.
Most of the 12 labour unions recognised by the government are not on the board. It has no representative from the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) or the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), two of the country’s largest unions, which are linked to the Left parties.
The exclusion also extends to the states. The only state representatives on the board come from BJP-ruled states, namely Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and West Bengal, the express reported.
Gig and platform workers, such as delivery riders and ride-hailing drivers, have long called for legal protection and welfare benefits, including insurance, accident cover and pensions.
The board is expected to shape those schemes, and the question of who sits on it will affect how much weight workers’ own organisations carry in decisions about them.
