ullekhnp.com (20.09.2024) The latest announcement from the Union labour ministry is that it has asked technology-based platforms and aggregators to get all gig workers engaged by them to register on the e-Shram portal, a centralised database of informal workers, where they can avail of health insurance and other facilities, including unemploy­ment benefits, maternity benefits, and accident injury coverage through the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC). As of now, gig workers are eligible only for minimum social-security benefits. A July 2024 statement from the government stated that “for the first time, the definition of ‘gig workers’ and ‘platform workers’ has been provided in the Code on Social Security, 2020.” Code on Social Security is one of the four codes that the Union government has brought in with the aim of consolidating previous labour laws. These four deal with wages, social security, industrial relations, and occupational safety.