N. Raghuraman's column: Don't worry, 'gig' employment will gradually become 'big' employment

Ramesh (name changed), 20, almost threatened his family to buy a bike. The family struggled a lot to get him a bike. The housewife mother pawned the gold, the carpenter father took a loan and fulfilled the wish of his only child. He went to college, but he wasn't very good at studies. But suddenly, his life changed. Her father suffered an electric shock at work and died after being treated in hospital for some time. The family's small savings in treatment were also exhausted. Ramesh stopped going to college because he had to take care of his mother and run the household expenses. Due to lack of formal education, he could not get a good job. Then the bike came in handy for him. Ramesh became a delivery boy and suddenly there was a sense of responsibility in his behaviour. He would work when he was free and when he had to take care of his mother or any other work, he would get out of work. Not just Ramesh, many graduates and skilled people get to work when they need money and walk away when other priorities come up. This is the reason that according to the NITI Aayog, more than 77 lakh workers are associated with the 'gig' economy in hundreds of cities of the country and their number is expected to reach 2.35 crore by 2029-30. Since 'gig' employment gives flexibility, opens up different opportunities, it is becoming the preferred option among many urban people. Today, skilled jobs account for 47 per cent of gig employment, 22 per cent of high skilled and 31 per cent of low skilled. However, the lure of a traditional government job still retains the appeal of most people – whether urban or rural – because of the employment security and post-retirement benefits. This is because people like Ramesh hear their experiences from their colleagues about how challenging a health crisis situation becomes for them. They know that if they face a health emergency right now, they have no resources to do so. Scenes like what happened to Ramesh's father still haunt him. And these are the people who fall prey to job scams because their work is such that they have to join the stress-filled race every day. On February 1, the first ray of hope appeared for these employees when they heard about the central government issuing identity cards and health insurance for them. The announcement in the budget has come as an assurance for the likes of Ramesh. Such steps will prevent them from running after traditional jobs. Today, the cost of treatment has become scary and getting any kind of health benefit from the government will be a big relief for gig workers. Experts say this is just the beginning and over time the government will also work on a large scale to implement such schemes, which will also allow 'gig' workers to contribute towards pension. On the other hand, 'gig' workers also have to understand that they are doing something like self-employment and they will not get holidays or weekends. Instead, they will get some benefits for their work, such as depreciation and spending on bikes. Ramesh made only one mistake that he dropped out. Gig workers must continue education and become skilled over time. This will qualitatively improve their ROTI (Return on Time Invested), which will mean higher salaries for the same amount of time invested. The funda is that over time 'gig' employment will become 'big' employment, as it gives young people great freedom to work on their own. At the same time, indirectly this freedom will also bring responsibility, just as it was brought on Ramesh's shoulders.