should purchase all the equipment , instruments and tools that are necessary for the work . Thus , the app company could transfer the entire investment costs on to the gig worker successfully . Simply , it will assign work and exploit the labour . Thus , the brokerage system has been corporatised . The gig workers hardly earn Rs . 700 per day after meeting expenses , even though they work for 10 hours . The app company has no responsibility if they meet any accident or lose their lives in the process of completing assigned work .
There have been multiple incidents of mistreatment , high work pressure and poor working conditions for the Amazon ware house workers in India . In June , 2024 , the workers are not permitted to go to the toilet and to take water until they complete the target on that day . National Human Rights Commission took it as Suo moto and investigated . Further , it has demanded an answer from the Union Minister of Labour . All the 80 lakh gig workers in India will work in the same cruel and inhuman work conditions . The independent contractors are always under the strict and harsh surveillance of app companies . It is known as algorithmic control where the gig workers are controlled , disciplined and restrained every second by the app companies with the application of advanced digital technology . The independent contractors must be docile , obedient and do their work with fear . Still , the app companies will pay less without showing any reason and sometimes they are removed from the app .
Moreover , the payments of gig workers will also be determined by the evaluation of customers in the form of their ratings . Thus , the independent contractors are responsible for satisfying the customers . Thus , they are always under the pressure of apps as well as customers . However , the final decision lies with the apps . Though , 4 they work continuously , under the intense pressure , they are easily subjected to labour exploitation .
The gig economy has extensive space and scope to intensify the unpaid labour . So that they are always on the strong grip of app companies . The app companies are capable of reducing the paid part of labour and reduce the payments . Further , they could create tough work environment where the gig workers are subjected to completing the tasks without taking break . The gig system is a strong strategy formulated by the exploitative capitalist forces to seize the workers into the vicious circle of misery and critical crisis by calling them independent contractors . No law is there to restrict the labour exploitation . The existing pro - worker laws are not implemented . They are called obsolete . All the categories of people are subjected to exploitation in one or another form . The environment is created strongly , where everyone accepts that the exploitation is normal and natural . The unpaid labour is looted and appropriated and accumulated as profits . Unemployment Crisis - Expansion of Gig System :
In India , the jobless growth has emerged with the entry of globalisation . Gradually , it has taken the form of job - loss growth . As a result , the lives of the working class became critical . The joint publication of the International Labour Organisation and the Institute of Human Development , entitled Indian Employment Report , 2024 states that regular and casual employment is seriously reduced . The rapid fall can be seen in wages and real wages . During 2000-2022 , the labour force increased from 171.1 million to 544.5 million , i . e ., 8 million per annum . But the work force increased by 7 million per annum . Therefore , the unemployment reached 29 million by 2019 . Suddenly , it has reduced to 22.9 million in 2022 . What happened between 2020 and 2022 ? The employment in agriculture sector increased during this period . Among the migrant labourers who went back to their villages owing to the sudden declaration of lock down due to the Covid-19 pandemic , some of them did not come back and stayed in the agriculture sector only . Further , during this period , the miserable self -employment shows a rise . The miserable lives of the working class normalised . The report further says that there are no minimum wages for 39.3 percent of regular workers and 69.5 percent of casual labour . This observation is supported by the Periodic Labour Force Survey , 2023-24 .
The growth rate of our economy during 1993-2017 was 7 percent . However , the employment generation is slow and economic inqualities have increased excessively . The decline in the employment generation started in 2004 onwards and became negative from 2011 onwards . The people are losing their jobs . Irrespective of the skills , it became difficult to find a job . As our growth is closely connected to the service sector which is highly capital - intensive , creates no jobs . Similarly , the spread of globalisation with communications , Financial and Commercial services which are also highly capital - intensive will not generate employment . Owing to excessive economic inequalities , the wealthy create demand for luxuries and high-end goods . All these products are highly capital intensive . Further , the marginal propensity to consume will be low for the rich . Conversely , employment is generated in miserable self-employed sector . Despite their high marginal propensity to consume , owing to their low incomes , demand will not increase . As a result , the effective demand will decline . Consequently , the growth declined to 3.8 percent in 2019 from 6.8 percent during 2011- 17 . Unsold stocks are on the rise . The neo-liberal policies can give
Class Struggle