Q.Explain the main features of the Code on Social Security, 2020, as it relates to gig and platform workers.

The Code on Social Security, 2020 formally defines 'gig worker' and 'platform worker' and enables the government to frame social security schemes for them, covering benefits such as insurance, health, and old-age protection, funded partly through platform contributions. …

Before 2020, Indian labour law had no formal category for workers engaged through digital platforms outside a traditional employer-employee relationship, leaving gig and platform workers largely outside the reach of social-security legislation designed for regular employees.

The Code on Social Security, 2020 addresses this gap in the following main ways:

1. Formal definitions — it defines "gig worker" (a person performing work outside a traditional employer-employee relationship, earning through task-based or freelance arrangements) and "platform worker" (a worker whose work is organised through an online platform connecting them with customers) as distinct, recognised categories of workers.
2. Enabling framework for social security schemes — it empowers the central and state governments to frame social security schemes for gig and platform workers covering areas such as life and disability cover, health and maternity benefits, and old-age protection (pension).
3. Funding through platform contributions — the Code envisages that aggregator platforms (companies that engage gig/platform workers) may be required to contribute toward the cost of these social security schemes. …

Students sometimes state that the Code 'gives gig workers full employee benefits like regular workers' — it does not make gig/platform workers formal employees; it creates a separ …