India, Feb. 2 -- The announcement in the Union Budget that gig and platform workers will now be covered under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM JAY) and be registered with the e-Shram portal is a welcome push towards securing this rapidly growing segment of work. e-Shram registration, of course, will mean greater ease in accessing several government schemes for informal workers while the PM JAY inclusion will mean a cushion against secondary and tertiary health care expenditure incurred of up to Rs. 5 lakh annually.

Given the diverse but unidirectional characterisation of gig workers as "freelance workers" and even "independent partners" by the platform-economy players, a large chunk of the workforce (currently estimated at 10 mil...