Congress leader Rahul Gandhi takes a ride with taxi driver Sunil Upadhyay on August 19, 2024. | Image credit: PTI
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Monday (August 19, 2024) highlighted the plight of gig workers and assured that Congress governments in states would take concrete measures to resolve their problems while the INDIA bloc would work towards their implementation across the country.
Mr Gandhi made these remarks on X, where he posted a video of a recent ride in an Uber taxi and his interaction with the driver.
Also read | India needs national legal and social security architecture for gig workers: Congress
“Low income and inflation ruining lives – this is the plight of gig workers in India! Speaking to Sunil Upadhyay ji during an Uber ride and after meeting his family, I took stock of the problems faced by gig workers like taxi drivers and delivery services in the country,” the former Congress leader said in Hindi on X.
“They are barely living from hand to mouth with no savings and no basis for their family’s future. To solve this problem, the Congress state governments will address this problem with concrete measures,” he said.
The Indian ‘Janbandhan’ will do everything in its power to ensure its implementation across the country, Mr Gandhi added.
In the over 11-minute-long video, Mr Gandhi is seen taking a taxi ride after booking a cab through the Uber app. He chatted with the taxi driver, who hails from Etah in Uttar Pradesh, and asked him about his problems.
The taxi driver told Mr Gandhi that he had to make do with the bare minimum because drivers were paid poorly and had no social security.
He also talked about his idea of returning to his home village as he could not make ends meet financially in Delhi.
Mr. Gandhi ended the journey and presented a gift to the taxi driver’s children.
The day after the trip, Mr Gandhi is seen having lunch with the taxi driver’s family at a restaurant in Delhi.
Mr Gandhi assured them that Congress governments in various states were considering gig workers and that he wanted to ensure social security for drivers and their families.
