Finance Minister Proposes ID Cards for Gig Workers, UPI-Linked Credit Cards for Street Vendors

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget speech today, announced that her government will provide ID cards to gig workers. Gig workers will also be provided access to healthcare via a social security scheme.

She said her government will invest in street vendors and online and urban workers. Gig workers of online platforms to be provided with identity cards and registration on e-Shram portal.

PM SVANidhi scheme to be revamped with enhanced loans from banks, UPI linked credit cards with Rs 30,000 limit, and capacity building support would be ensured.

A committee comprising representatives from various stakeholders had been constituted to suggest a framework for providing social security and welfare benefits to gig and platform workers.

The Ministry of Labour and Employment had issued an advisory to aggregators to register themselves and platform workers engaged with them on the e-Shram portal.

Gig workers and platform workers have been defined for the first time in the Code on Social Security 2020, which has been enacted by the Parliament. Social Security and Welfare related provisions for the gig and platform workers have been mentioned in the Code.

The Code provides for framing of suitable social security measures for gig workers and platform workers on matters relating to life and disability cover, accident insurance, health and maternity benefits, old age protection, etc.

In her budget speech, she said Budget 2025 continues the government's efforts to accelerate growth, inclusive development, private sector investments, uplift household sentiments, and enhance the spending power of India's rising middle-class.

The budget session of parliament began on January 31 and, according to schedule, will end on April 4. The budget speech outlined the government's fiscal policies, revenue and expenditure proposals, taxation reforms, and other significant announcements.

With this Budget Presentation, Sitharaman has presented her eighth budget.

India's economy is projected to grow between 6.3 per cent and 6.8 per cent in the next financial year 2025-26, said Economic Survey 2024-25, tabled in Parliament on Friday.

In another key guidance, the Economic Survey suggested that India needs to grow around 8 per cent for a decade or two to achieve its Viksit Bharat dreams, at a time when the country's growth showed weak progress in the first two quarters of the current financial year.