Health & SocialImportant2025-02-01

Ayushman Bharat Extended to Gig Workers

Why focus: GS2 Social Justice — flagship scheme expansion; tests eligibility criteria and e-Shram portal linkage in How-Many-Correct.

In News

What Happened

In the Union Budget 2025-26 presented on February 1, 2025, the Union Government extended the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) to cover gig workers. Beneficiaries for this expansion will be identified and registered using the existing e-Shram portal. This policy officially integrates platform and gig workers into the world's largest publicly funded health insurance scheme.

Why It Matters

This is a crucial step towards formalizing social security for India's rapidly growing gig economy. It provides a vital safety net against catastrophic health expenditures for millions of vulnerable workers who lack traditional employer-provided benefits.

Background

History & Context

The need for gig worker protection was first formally addressed in the Code on Social Security, 2020, which legally defined 'gig workers' and mandated the creation of social welfare funds for them. In August 2021, the Ministry of Labour and Employment launched the e-Shram portal to create a comprehensive national database of unorganized workers. Despite these legislative frameworks, actionable comprehensive health coverage for this specific group remained elusive until this budget announcement operationalized it through AB PM-JAY, originally launched in 2018.

What Changed

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BEFORE: Gig workers were largely excluded from structured, state-sponsored health insurance unless they coincidentally qualified under specific deprivation criteria of the SECC 2011. NOW: Gig workers are explicitly recognized as a distinct beneficiary category under AB PM-JAY, eligible for the Rs 5 lakh annual family health cover.
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BEFORE: The e-Shram portal functioned primarily as a centralized registry of unorganized workers with limited direct integration into major health schemes. NOW: The e-Shram portal is actively utilized as the primary identification and registration mechanism to disburse Ayushman Bharat benefits to gig workers.
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BEFORE: Healthcare costs for gig workers were mostly out-of-pocket, as platform aggregators were not strictly mandated to provide comprehensive medical insurance. NOW: The state provides a publicly funded safety net, significantly reducing the financial vulnerability of platform-dependent labor.

Prelims Angle

NCERT Connection

This development directly applies to Class 11 Economics Chapter 8 (Employment: Growth, Informalisation and other issues). It illustrates the concept of 'informalisation of the workforce,' showing how modern employment models like the gig economy lack traditional social security, and how government interventions are evolving to protect these unorganised workers.

Practice Questions

Q1

Correct Statement(s)

Consider the following statements regarding the extension of Ayushman Bharat to gig workers: 1. The beneficiaries for this extended health coverage will be identified primarily through the e-Shram portal. 2. The Code on Social Security, 2020 was the first Indian legislation to legally define gig workers and platform workers.

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