New Delhi Bureau
Summary: The central government has notified the constitution of the National Social Security Board for unorganised, gig and platform workers. The Board will recommend welfare schemes for these workers and monitor the schemes that are run, though the notification by itself does not start any direct cash benefit, insurance or pension for any worker.
The Union Ministry of Labour and Employment notified the constitution of the National Social Security Board on 30 October 2026 under the Code on Social Security, 2020. The move is being seen as an important institutional step for the country’s vast informal workforce, because gig and platform workers do not fall within a regular employer-employee relationship and had therefore remained outside the traditional social security framework. With the notification, the work of recommending welfare schemes for these workers and monitoring their implementation will now happen under a fixed institutional arrangement.
What happened, and when
The notification issued on 30 October 2026 provides for the National Social Security Board for unorganised workers as well as gig and platform workers. The arrangement has been created under the statutory framework of the Code on Social Security, 2020. The Code defined gig and platform workers in law for the first time as a separate category, and after its provisions came into force in November 2025, the constitution of the Board is the next institutional step in that direction. The Board will be chaired by the Union Minister for Labour and Employment.
Who counts as a gig worker, and who is a platform worker
A gig worker is a person who earns on the basis of work or tasks rather than through regular employment under a permanent employer. A platform worker is the subset of gig workers who reach customers through an online platform and are paid through that medium. This includes food-delivery partners, cab and bike-ride drivers, technicians who provide services at home, and freelancers who take work through online platforms. The defining feature of these workers is that they have no single permanent employer, which is why provident fund or employees’ state insurance arrangements did not apply to them directly.
What the Board will do
The Board has been given six kinds of responsibilities covering recommendation, advice and monitoring. It will recommend suitable welfare schemes to the central government for different sections of unorganised, gig and platform workers. It will advise the central government on questions about the working of the Code that are referred to it. It will monitor the welfare schemes run by the central government. It will also review the record-keeping carried out by the states and review expenditure from the fund and its accounts. Any other task assigned by the central government will also be taken up by the Board.
How the Board is composed, and how often it will meet
The Board includes representatives of the central and state governments, along with aggregator companies, employers, civil society organisations, trade unions and associations of gig and platform workers. The idea is that when schemes are recommended, the government, the companies and the workers can all be heard on one platform. The Board must meet at least three times a year, and the rules for conducting its meetings will be prescribed by the central government. The Code provides for a three-year term for the Board.
Why this step matters
India’s social security laws were long built around a clear employer who pays contributions, as in provident fund and employees’ state insurance. Gig and platform work has no such single employer, so lakhs of workers remained outside that net. The constitution of the Board now gives an institutional form to the process of framing schemes for these workers. The e-Shram portal already exists alongside this framework, giving unorganised workers an Aadhaar-linked identity that stays with them even when they switch platforms. The Board’s recommendations will carry this framework forward.
What has not been decided yet
The most important thing to understand about this notification is that only the Board has been constituted so far — no new scheme has started. The notification does not name any member, and no date for the Board’s first meeting has been announced. Nothing has been announced either about the eligibility for any scheme, the amount of any benefit, the application process, or the date from which any payment would begin. It would therefore be wrong to say that every gig worker will start receiving insurance or pension as soon as the Board is formed. Benefits will flow only when schemes are framed, notified and funded.
The areas in which schemes may be framed
The areas in which the Code envisages schemes for gig and platform workers include life and disability cover, accident insurance, health benefits, maternity benefits, old-age protection and crèche facilities. These areas indicate the possible direction of future schemes; they are not announced benefits. The Board can recommend schemes in these areas according to the needs of different sections of workers. The Code also mentions an aggregator contribution arrangement, but the rules for collecting it are still to be decided, so no firm figure has emerged on that front yet.
What it means for workers in Madhya Pradesh
This is a national arrangement, so its scope is not limited to one state. In the cities of Madhya Pradesh — such as Indore, Bhopal and Ujjain — food-delivery partners, cab drivers and home-service workers also work in large numbers, and they fall in the same category. Since state government representatives are included in the Board, the ground-level needs of the states are also expected to find a place in its recommendations. No separate figure for Madhya Pradesh’s gig workers has been given in this notification, so no state-specific number is being claimed here.
What happens next
In the next stage, the Board’s meetings will lead to recommendations for schemes for different sections of workers. After that, the central government will have to finalise the schemes, notify them and arrange funding. Only then will it be clear which worker gets which benefit, on what eligibility, and through what process. Until then, this notification should be seen as an institutional beginning — a platform has now been created where the welfare of gig and platform workers can be raised regularly, under a fixed arrangement.
Related coverage: the Madhya Pradesh dearness allowance order and the NSO report on youth in Gwalior-Bhopal.
Disclaimer: This news has been prepared on the basis of available sources and verification. If there is any factual error, a correction will be published.
