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Parichiti - Domestic Workers’ Access to Secure Livelihoods in West Bengal
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/parichiti-domestic-workers-access-to-secure-livelihoods-west-bengal
<b>This report by Anchita Ghatak of Parichiti presents findings of a pilot study conducted by the author and colleagues to document the situation of women domestic workers (WDWs) in the lockdown and the initial stages of the lifting of restrictions. This study would not have been possible without the WDWs who agreed to be interviewed for this study and gave their time generously. We are grateful to Dr Abhijit Das of the Centre for Health and Social Justice for his advice and help. The report is edited by Aayush Rathi and Ambika Tandon, and this work forms a part of the CIS’s project on gender, welfare and surveillance supported by Privacy International, United Kingdom.</b>
<p> </p>
<h4>Domestic Workers’ Access to Secure Livelihoods in West Bengal: <a href="https://www.parichiti.org.in/ckfinder/userfiles/files/Final%20report_WDW_Lockdown.pdf" target="_blank">Read</a> (PDF)</h4>
<h4>Cross-posted from <a href="https://www.parichiti.org.in/r&p.php" target="_blank">Parichiti</a>.</h4>
<hr />
<h2>Executive Summary</h2>
<p>Hundreds of thousands of women from poor communities work as domestic workers in Kolkata. Domestic work is typically a precarious occupation, with very little recognition in legislation or policy. Along with other workers in the informal economy, women domestic workers (WDWs) were severely impacted by the national lockdown enforced in March, with loss of livelihood and few options for survival.</p>
<p>Parichiti works with WDWs in 20 different locations - slums and informal settlements in Kolkata and villages in south 24 Parganas. We conducted this pilot study from late June to August 2020 to document the situation of WDWs from March onwards, in the lockdown and the initial stages of lifting of restrictions. We interviewed 14 WDWs on the phone to record their experiences during the lockdown and after, including impact on livelihoods. The objectives of the study were to document the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the lives of WDWs, with focus on economic and health dimensions.</p>
<p>We found that most domestic workers in our sample were paid for March, but faced difficulties in procuring wages April onwards. During this period, they faced economic hardships that threatened their survival, with members of their family also involved in the informal sector and experiencing loss of wages. Workers survived on relief received through civil society or by taking loans from banks or informal lenders. Some are now stuck in a debt trap.</p>
<p>Most went back to work from June, but faced several barriers – public transport services continued to be dysfunctional, apartment complexes prohibited entry of outsiders, and employers were reluctant to allow workers into their homes. Employers were wary of workers if they were employed in multiple households or used public transport, forcing workers to adapt to these conditions. Due to these reasons, some workers lost their jobs permanently, while others returned with lower wages or lower number of employers. Workers were well aware of the precautions to be taken at the home and workplace with regards to Covid-19.</p>
<p>Many WDWs were unable to access ration through the Public Distribution System. Some were not enrolled and others were enrolled in the districts they had migrated from. Some were not classified as below the poverty line and were hence not priority households for the state, although they were ‘deserving’ beneficiaries. All of the respondents were affected by Cyclone Amphan, which devastated parts of the state in May 2020. Despite the announcement of a sizeable compensation by the state, those whose homes were impacted were unable to get any relief. WDWs overall tended to not rely on the state for welfare or health services. Many regarded public health systems to have poor quality services, and turned to private services when possible. Both central and state governments fell short of meeting the needs of WDWs during the pandemic, which could potentially have long-term impact on their income and health.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/parichiti-domestic-workers-access-to-secure-livelihoods-west-bengal'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/parichiti-domestic-workers-access-to-secure-livelihoods-west-bengal</a>
</p>
No publisherAnchita GhatakGig WorkResearchNetwork EconomiesPublicationsGender, Welfare, and PrivacyResearchers at Work2020-12-30T10:01:36ZBlog EntryData Lives of Humanities Text
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/data-lives-of-humanities-text
<b>The ‘computational turn’ in the humanities has brought with it several questions and challenges for traditional ways of engaging with the ‘text’ as an object of enquiry. The prevalence of data-driven scholarship in the humanities offers several challenges to traditional forms of work and practice, with regard to theory, tools, and methods. In the context of the digital, ‘text’ acquires new forms and meanings, especially with practices such as distant reading. Drawing upon excerpts from an earlier study on digital humanities in India, this essay discusses how data in the humanities is not a new phenomenon; concerns about the ‘datafication’ of humanities, now seen prominently in digital humanities and related fields is actually reflective of a longer conflict about the inherited separation between humanities and technology. It looks at how ‘data’ in the humanities has become a new object of enquiry as a result of several changes in the media landscape in the past few decades. These include large-scale digitalization and availability of corpora of materials (digitized and born-digital) in an array of formats and across varied platforms, thus leading to also a steady prevalence of the use of computational methods in working with and studying cultural artifacts today. This essay also explores how reading ‘text as data’ helps understand the role of data in the making of humanities texts and redefines traditional ideas of textuality, reading, and the reader.</b>
<p> </p>
<h4>This essay by Puthiya Purayil Sneha was published in <em>Lives of Data: Essays on Computational Cultures from India</em> (2020) edited by Sandeep Mertia, with a Foreword by Ravi Sundaram as part of the Series on Theory on Demand by Institute of Network Cultures, Amsterdam.</h4>
<h4>Read the open access book <a href="https://networkcultures.org/blog/publication/lives-of-data-essays-on-computational-cultures-from-india/" target="_blank">here</a>.</h4>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/data-lives-of-humanities-text'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/data-lives-of-humanities-text</a>
</p>
No publishersneha-ppResearchResearchers at WorkPublicationsDigital Humanities2020-12-23T13:07:43ZBlog EntryIFAT and ITF - Locking Down the Impact of Covid-19
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/ifat-itf-locking-down-the-impact-of-covid-19
<b>This report, by Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT) and International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), New Delhi office, explores the responses to the outbreak of Covid-19 by digital platform based companies, trade unions, and governments to help out workers for digital platform based companies hereafter app based workers during the lockdown. The research work in this article is a characterization of the struggles of app based workers during the global pandemic and how it has affected and changed the world of work for them. The surveys were conducted amongst the workforce working for app based companies like Ola, Uber, Swiggy, Zomato etc. This study is partially supported by CIS as part of the Feminist Internet Research Network led by the Association for Progressive Communications.</b>
<p> </p>
<h4>Report: <a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/files/ifat-itf-locking-down-the-impact-of-covid-19-report/" target="_blank">Download</a> (PDF)</h4>
<h4>Press Release: <a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/files/ifat-itf-locking-down-the-impact-of-covid-19-press-release/" target="_blank">Download</a> (PDF)</h4>
<hr />
<h3>Press Release, 17 September, 2020</h3>
<p><br />Between March and June 2020, IFAT and ITF conducted 4 surveys with transport and delivery workers to assess (i) their income levels during the Covid-19 pandemic, (ii) the burden of loan repayment during these months, (iii) the relief provided to them by companies, and (iv) the access to welfare schemes offered by state and central governments.</p>
<p>The first survey, on income levels and loans administered in March 2020, had 5964 respondents, across 55 cities, in 16 states. The second and third surveys conducted in April 2020, on financial relief from companies and governments, had 1630 respondents, across 59 cities, in 16 states. The fourth survey was conducted in June 2020 to assess income levels as the economies were slowing opening up. Some of the most startling findings from the 4 surveys are:</p>
<ul>
<li>The average monthly EMI of the respondents in March 2020 was between Rs. 10,000 - 20,000. 51% of the respondents had taken vehicle loans from 19 national public sector banks.<br /><br /></li>
<li>30.3% of the respondents worked between 40-50 hours a week, in the week prior to the first national lockdown. Despite high hours of work, the average income of the drivers for the week commencing April 15, 2020 was less than Rs. 2500. 57% of respondents earned between 0 to Rs. 2250.<br /><br /></li>
<li>89.8% of workers did not receive any ration or food assistance, and 84.5% did not receive any financial assistance from either companies or governments.<br /><br /></li>
<li>Where companies had announced financial assistance programmes, including through donations collected by customers, there was no transparency in disbursement of funds. Other reasons for exclusion included administrative red tape (such as the requirement to produce bills that are GST compliant), and absence of clear criteria for eligibility, leading to random disbursement, among others.<br /><br /></li>
<li>Ola announced waiving off the rental amount for leased vehicles, and asked drivers to return such vehicles. However, there was no announcement of a plan to repossess vehicles once there was an easing of the lockdown, causing great anxiety among workers.<br /><br /></li>
<li>After the easing of the national lockdown, 69.7% of respondents indicated that they had no earnings, while 20% earned between Rs.500 to 1500.<br /><br /></li>
<li>2716 respondents from 19 states across gig platforms articulated their support for a peaceful demonstration against company practices.<br /><br /></li>
<li>Mandatory installation of Aarogya Setu by workers raised concerns of privacy, as this would allow companies to surveil workers and collect data on their movements after work hours.</li>
</ul>
<p>IFAT organised several meetings and protests after each survey, to bring attention to the vulnerable conditions of workers. At these gatherings, workers raised the following key demands:</p>
<ul>
<li>Companies must reduce commission rates to 5%, to allow workers to get back on their feet, and compensate for losses over the past few months;<br /><br /></li>
<li>Adequate protective equipment and health insurance cover to all drivers must be provided;<br /><br /></li>
<li>There must be increased transparency in disbursement process of funds, and in the criteria for selection of beneficiaries;<br /><br /></li>
<li>Compounded interest must be waived on EMIs for the 3 months of moratorium on loan repayment.</li>
</ul>
<p>Hear our voices and address our demands.</p>
<p><br /><em>Shaik Salauddin</em></p>
<p>National General Secretary, Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT)</p>
<p>Phone: +91 96424 24799</p>
<p><br /><strong>Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers</strong></p>
<p>Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/connectifat/" target="_blank">www.facebook.com/watch/connectifat/</a></p>
<p>Twitter: <a href="https://www.twitter.com/connect_ifat" target="_blank">www.twitter.com/connect_ifat</a></p>
<p>YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA1AxGq0Fb_A_O_Ey44eiPg" target="_blank">www.youtube.com/channel/UCA1AxGq0Fb_A_O_Ey44eiPg</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/ifat-itf-locking-down-the-impact-of-covid-19'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/ifat-itf-locking-down-the-impact-of-covid-19</a>
</p>
No publisherIndian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT) and International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), New Delhi officeDigital EconomyResearchers at WorkDigital LabourCovid19ResearchPlatform-WorkFeaturedHomepage2021-06-29T07:27:09ZBlog EntryRaina Roy and Abhiraj Bag - Kolkata’s trans community has been locked out of healthcare and livelihood
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/raina-roy-abhiraj-bag-transgender-community-kolkata-covid19-healthcare-livelihood
<b>Over six months into the outbreak of Covid-19 in India, it has become clear that the pandemic does not affect everybody equally. It has amplified the sufferings of the already-marginalised trans community. Raina Roy spoke to 10 trans persons and trans rights activists in Kolkata over the course of the past few months to better understand the situation. The piece was transcribed by Abhiraj Bag and edited by Kaarika Das and Srravya C, researchers at the Centre for Internet and Society, India. This work is part of a project at CIS on gender, welfare and surveillance, supported by Privacy International, United Kingdom. </b>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Originally published by <a href="https://scroll.in/article/968182/coronavirus-kolkatas-trans-community-has-been-locked-out-of-healthcare-and-livelihood" target="_blank">Scroll</a> on July 28, 2020.</em></p>
<p>Raina is a founder of <a href="https://bdssamabhabona.org/" target="_blank">Samabhabona</a> (Baishamya Durikaran Samiti), a trans-led organisation in Kolkata working with trans rights since 2013. Abhiraj is a trans rights activist based in Kolkata.</p>
<hr />
<p>Over six months into the outbreak of Covid-19 in India, it has become clear that the pandemic does not affect everybody equally. It has amplified the sufferings of the already-marginalised trans community. We spoke to 10 trans persons and trans rights activists in Kolkata over the course of the past few months to better understand our situation as a community.</p>
<p>Several members of our community have lost their livelihoods due to the lockdown and remain unemployed for over three months now. Those engaged in sex work and begging have no respite in sight for the foreseeable future. As a community, we are more likely to be unemployed as traditional employment opportunities are inaccessible to us. Our health concerns are also diverse, as we grapple with gender dysphoria alongside other psychosocial issues. Covid-19 has exacerbated these inequalities and effectively locked us out of livelihood as well as healthcare.</p>
<h3>An alienating system</h3>
<p>When it comes to accessing institutional healthcare, visiting hospitals can be a daunting ordeal for trans men and trans women, as we frequently encounter discrimination and stigmatisation from healthcare providers.</p>
<p>Even in emergency cases such as accidents, medical attention is delayed due to confusion whether the patient should be admitted to the male or female ward. Finding compassionate healthcare providers is difficult, especially in government hospitals. Most often, they are not sensitised to trans-health issues.</p>
<p>Such experiences have alienated us from the healthcare system and left several members of the trans community reluctant to seek medical help.</p>
<p>Access to general healthcare has further worsened with Covid-19, as many are unable to seek emergency medical assistance. With no sustainable source of income and deteriorating health condition, elderly trans persons are hit with a double whammy. Despite their failing health, there is presently no provision for routine health check-up which they can avail. The reluctance to consult a healthcare service provider has increased due to the added risk of infection.</p>
<h3>SRS services are city-centric</h3>
<p>Many in the community had scheduled their sex reassignment surgery or SRS and started taking the necessary hormonal medication. However, because of Covid-19, they have now had to postpone their surgery indefinitely. This uncertainty further aggravated distress together with issues of hormonal imbalance. Due to loss of income, many are resorting to alternative cheap hormonal medication and without proper medical supervision, its consequence could be harmful.</p>
<p>Those who have undergone SRS or are currently on hormone replacement therapy often experience side effects such as rise in blood pressure and blood sugar levels, urinary tract infection, and other immunity-compromising problems. To treat these side-effects, a patient may need to consult an endocrinologist, gynaecologist or urologist. However, such specialists are only available at district hospitals. At the sub-district level, we may be able to consult a gynaecologist at best. An endocrinologist or urologist would be available only if we travelled to the district hospitals or medical college hospitals.</p>
<p>A lockdown spanning over three months, restrictions on travel and closure of public transport have made the city-centric, SRS-related healthcare systems inaccessible to the transgender persons in smaller towns and villages. Pre-Covid-19, a few NGOs and community-based organisations provided sexual health services. However, they were unable to continue their services during the lockdown. This has adversely impacted the trans community’s access to sexual health services.</p>
<p>So far, two trans women have been tested positive for Covid-19 in Kolkata. Thanks to the intervention from activists and other allies, they were quarantined in the female ward when they tested positive. Both were asymptomatic and are presently self-isolating at home. Within the trans community, there is inadequate awareness about Covid-19 testing protocols and procedures. The saving grace has been the dedicated provisioning of ten beds at the MR Bangur Hospital, specifically reserved for transgender persons.</p>
<h3>Community care</h3>
<p>The most hard-hitting impact of Covid-19 is undoubtedly on the mental health of our community. Often faced with social stigma and physical abuse, we take refuge in the comfort of each other’s support. In the absence of familial ties, community support is vital for our well-being. However, Covid-19 and the consequent lockdown measures, has distanced us from our only source of support and solace – community interaction and meet-ups.</p>
<p>Although digitally mediated communication has somewhat helped in coping, it is not as effective or cathartic as an in-person conversation. This has increased the susceptibility of substance abuse in the community. Parallelly, there has been a considerable rise in domestic violence cases too. Even under normal circumstances, we are more likely to encounter intimate partner violence, but are skeptical to seek redressal as the law-enforcing institutions – both judiciary and the police – are biased against us.</p>
<p>At hospitals, the constant misgendering that we face at the hands of healthcare professionals can be traumatising. Aparna Banerjee, a trans-person in Kolkata, said that this trauma has only worsened during Covid-19, when frontline healthcare workers are not sensitised about trans health. To escape this trauma, some trans women have resorted to unscientific castration, leading to urinary tract infection and kidney-related problems. Gender dysphoria also puts the trans community at a higher risk of anxiety, depression, self-harm and suicidal tendencies.</p>
<h3>The political milieu</h3>
<p>Such strains on our mental and physical health come at a time when we are already distressed by the thought of being disenfranchised. The latest National Register of Citizens list in Assam had excluded many trans persons, as they couldn’t establish family ties, for being disowned by their families. And if they were included, their gender was incorrectly stated.</p>
<p>With the 2019 Transgender Person Act coming into force, a District Magistrate is given the authority to recognise a person as trans. This defies the right to self-identify, as upheld in the 2014 NALSA judgement. The current provision also necessitates providing proof of surgery and has no consideration for gender incongruence. The burden of providing proof of surgery is unnerving, especially for someone who has just transitioned.</p>
<p>As such, the cumulative impact of the 2019 Transgender Person Act and the Citizenship Amendment Act-National Register of Citizen mandate could lead to a significant part of the community being disenfranchised. In resisting this coercive pronouncement, we staged a protest in Kolkata earlier this year.</p>
<h3>What can be done</h3>
<p>The health and well-being of the trans community has suffered decades of institutional neglect and the Covid-19 pandemic has intensified this suffering. Remedial policy measures have been long due and cannot be delayed any further. Shelter homes have been one of our long-standing demands, to ensure safety and care for the transgender community, particularly the elderly. It is important that such shelter homes are democratic spaces, and not religious centres, that are welcoming of trans persons from different walks of life.</p>
<p>Secondly, healthcare systems, both public and private, need to be more trans-friendly – doctors, nurses and other staff in hospitals and healthcare centres need to be sensitised and trained to identify and understand the healthcare needs of transmen and transwomen. Recruitment of more transgender people as health workers would go a long way in treating transgender patients more humanely, with support and care.</p>
<p>Measures to contain the spread of the pandemic should include increased testing of transgender persons, and tracking the testing and infection rates among trans persons. Relief measures aimed at addressing the economic crisis need to acknowledge the loss of livelihood in the trans community and provide adequate financial support and compensation. Finally, it is important that governments, both at the centre- and state-level, pay heed to our demands and include representatives from the trans community while formulating policies that impact our lives in significant ways.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/raina-roy-abhiraj-bag-transgender-community-kolkata-covid19-healthcare-livelihood'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/raina-roy-abhiraj-bag-transgender-community-kolkata-covid19-healthcare-livelihood</a>
</p>
No publisherRaina Roy and Abhiraj BagGenderCovid19ResearchGender, Welfare, and PrivacyResearchers at Work2020-08-01T14:54:16ZBlog EntryBrindaalakshmi.K - Gendering of Development Data in India: Beyond the Binary
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/brindaalakshmi-k-gendering-development-data-india
<b>This report by Brindaalakshmi.K seeks to understand the gendering of development data in India: collection of data and issuance of government (foundational and functional) identity documents to persons identifying outside the cis/binary genders of female and male, and the data misrepresentations, barriers to accessing public and private services, and
informational exclusions that still remain. Sumandro Chattapadhyay edited the report and Puthiya Purayil Sneha offered additional editorial support. This work was undertaken as part of the Big Data for Development network supported by International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada.</b>
<p> </p>
<h4>Part 1 - Introduction, Research Method, and Summary of Findings: <a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/files/brindaalakshmi-k-gendering-of-development-data-in-india-beyond-the-binary-1" target="_blank">Download</a> (PDF)</h4>
<h4>Part 2 - Legal Rights and Enumeration Process: <a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/files/brindaalakshmi-k-gendering-of-development-data-in-india-beyond-the-binary-2" target="_blank">Download</a> (PDF)</h4>
<h4>Part 3 - Identity Documents and Access to Welfare: <a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/files/brindaalakshmi-k-gendering-of-development-data-in-india-beyond-the-binary-3" target="_blank">Download</a> (PDF)</h4>
<h4>Part 4 - Digital Services and Data Challenges: <a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/files/brindaalakshmi-k-gendering-of-development-data-in-india-beyond-the-binary-4" target="_blank">Download</a> (PDF)</h4>
<hr />
<p>India has been under a national lockdown due to the global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic since late March 2020. Although transgender persons or individuals who do not identify with the gender of their assigned sex at birth, fall into the eligibility category for the relief measures announced by the State, the implementation of the relief measures has seen to be inefficient in different states [1] of the country [2]. Many transgender persons still do not have proper identification documents in their preferred name and gender that can help them with claiming any welfare that is available [3].</p>
<p>Historically, the situation of transgender persons in India has been so, even prior to the present pandemic. A qualitative research study titled <em>Gendering of Development Data in India: Beyond the Binary</em> was undertaken during October 2018 - December 2019, to understand the gendering of development data in India, collection of data and issuance of government (foundational and functional) identity documents to persons identifying outside the cis/binary genders of female and male, and the data misrepresentations, barriers to accessing public and private services, and informational exclusions that still remain.</p>
<p>The interviews for this study were conducted in late 2018 and this report was completed in the beginning of 2020, after India went through an extended national debate on and finally enactment of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act during 2019. Three key observations from this study are presented in this blog post. Although these observations were made prior to the release of the draft rules of the new law, it is important to note that the law along with the draft rules in its present version will likely aggrevate the data and social exclusions faced by the transgender community in India.</p>
<h4>Observation 1: The need for data has sidestepped the state’s responsibility to address the human rights of its people</h4>
<p>The present global development agenda is to <em>leave no one behind</em> [4]. The effort to leave no one behind has shifted the focus of the state towards collecting data on different population groups. The design of and access to welfare programmes relies heavily on the availability of data. The impact of these programmes are again measured and understood as reflected by data. This shift in focus to data has led to further exclusion of already disenfranchised groups including the transgender community [5]. The problem with this lies in the framing of the development discourse as one that demands data as the prerequisite to access welfare benefits.</p>
<p>However, there are significant issues with the data on transgender persons that has been fed into different national and state-level databases, beginning with the census of 2011. For the first time, census of 2011 attempted to enumerate transgender persons. However, the enumeration of transgender persons for the census of 2011 has been severely criticised by the transgender community due to lack of</p>
<ul>
<li>Clear distinction between sex and gender in the census data collection process,</li>
<li>Community consultation in designing the enumeration process, and</li>
<li>Inclusion of all transgender identities, among others.</li></ul>
<p>However, this flawed data set is being used as the primary data for fund allocation across different states for transgender people’s inclusion, note respondents. Further, any person identifying outside the gender of their assigned sex at birth faces the additional burden of proving their gender identity to access any welfare benefit. However, cisgendered men or women are never asked to prove their gender identity. The need for data from a marginalised population group without addressing the structural problems has only led to further exclusion of this already invisible group of individuals, note respondents. Further, the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 was passed despite the severe criticisms from the transgender community, human rights activist groups [6] and even opposition political parties [7] in India for several reasons [8].</p>
<h4>Observation 2: Replication of existing offline challenges by digital systems in multiple data sources, continues to keep transgender persons excluded</h4>
<p>Digitisation was supposed to remove existing offline challenges and enable more people centric systems [9]. However, digital systems seem to have replicated the existing offline challenges. In several cases, digitisation has added to the complexities involved.</p>
<p>The replication of challenges begins with the assumption that digital processes are the best way to collect data on transgender persons. Both level of literacy and digital literacy are low among transgender persons in India. According to a report by the National Human Rights Commission [10], nearly 50% of transgender persons have studied less than Class X. This has a significant effect on their access to different rights.</p>
<p>Access to mobile phones is assumed to bridge this access gap to online systems and services. However, observations from different respondents suggest otherwise. Additionally, due to their gender identity, transgender individuals face different set of challenges in procuring valid identification documents required to enter data systems, note respondents. This includes but not limited to:</p>
<ul>
<li>Lack of standardised online or offline processes to aid in changing their documents and vary within each state in different documents.</li>
<li>Procuring any identification document in preferred name and gender requires existing identification documents in given name and assigned gender, in both online and offline processes. However, due to the stigma with their gender identity, transgender persons often run away from home with no identification document in their assigned name and gender.</li>
<li>With or without an existing ID document, individuals have to go through a tedious offline legal process to change their name and gender on different documents.</li>
<li>Information on such processes, digital or otherwise are usually available only to individuals who are educated or associated with a non-profit organisation working with the community. The challenges are higher for individuals with neither.</li></ul>
<h4>Observation 3: Private big data is not good enough as an alternative source of evidence for designing welfare services for transgender persons</h4>
<p>Globally, public private partnerships for big data are being pushed through different initiatives like Data Collaboratives [11] and UN Global Pulse [12], among others. These private partnerships are being seen as key to using big data for official statistics, which can then aid in making welfare decisions [13]. However, the respondents note that the different private big data sources are not good enough to make welfare decisions for various reasons including but not limited to:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Dependency on government documents:</strong> Access to any private service system like banking, healthcare, housing or education by any individual requires verification using some proof of identity. The discrimination and challenges in procuring government issued identification documents impacts the ability of transgender persons to enter private data systems. This in turn impacts their access to services.</li>
<li><strong>Misrepresentation in data:</strong> The dependency of private services on government issued documents / government recorded data, and hierarchy among such documents/data and the continued misrepresentation of transgender people, impacts the big data generated by private service providers. Due to the stigma faced, many transgender persons avoid using public healthcare systems for other medical conditions. The heavy dependency on private health care and lower usage of public health systems, results in insufficient big data on transgender persons, created by both public and private medical care and hence cannot be used to design health related welfare services.
</li><li><strong>Social media data issues:</strong> Different websites and apps also use social media login as the ID verification mechanism. Since not all transgender persons are out to their family and friends about their gender identity, they often tend to have multiple social media accounts with different names and gender to protect their identity. When open about their gender identity, harassment and bullying of transgender persons with violent threats or sexually lucid remarks are quite common on social media platforms. Online privacy therefore continues to be a serious concern for them. Disclosing their transgender status also enables the system to predict user patterns of a vulnerable group with potential for abuse, note respondents.</li></ul>
<p>In conclusion, the present global pandemic has further amplified the inherent flaws in the present data-driven welfare system in the country and its impacts on a marginalised population group like transgender persons in the country. Globally, gender in development data is seen in binary genders of male and female, leaving behind transgender individuals or those who do not identify with the gender of their assigned sex at birth. So the dominant binary gender data conversation is in fact leaving people behind. With the regressive Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act of 2019 and its rules, this inadequacy in the global development agenda related to gender equality is felt at an amplified scale.</p>
<p>Building on the work of Dr. Usha Ramanathan, a renowned human rights activist, I say that data collection and monitoring systems that tag, track, and profile transgender persons placing them under surveillance, have consequences beyond the denial of services, and enter into the arena of criminalising for being beyond the binary [14]. The vulnerabilities of their gender identity exacerbates the threat to freedom. With their freedom threatened, expecting people to be forthcoming about self-identifying themselves in their preferred name and gender, so as to ensure that they are counted in data-driven development interventions and can thus access their constitutionally guaranteed rights, goes against the very idea of sustainable development and human rights.</p>
<p> </p>
<h4>References</h4>
<p>[1] Kumar. V (2020, May 13). In Jharkhand, a Mockery of 'Right to Food' as Lockdown Relief Measures Fail to Deliver. The Wire. Retrieved from: <a href="https://thewire.in/food/lockdown-jharkhand-hunger-deaths-corruption-food" target="_blank">https://thewire.in/food/lockdown-jharkhand-hunger-deaths-corruption-food</a></p>
<p>[2] Manoj. C.K. (2020, April 24). COVID-19: Thousands pushed to starvation due to faulty biometric system in Bihar. DownToEarth. Retrieved from: <a href="https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/food/covid-19-thousands-pushed-to-starvation-due-to-faulty-biometric-system-in-bihar-70681" target="_blank">https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/food/covid-19-thousands-pushed-to-starvation-due-to-faulty-biometric-system-in-bihar-70681</a></p>
<p>[3] G. Ram Mohan. (2020, May 01). Eviction Fear Heightens as Lockdown Signals Loss of Livelihood for Transgender People. The Wire. Retrieved from: <a href="https://thewire.in/rights/transgender-people-lockdown-coronavirus" target="_blank">https://thewire.in/rights/transgender-people-lockdown-coronavirus </a></p>
<p>[4] UN Statistics (2016). The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2016. United Nations Statistics. Retrieved from: <a href="https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2016/leaving-no-one-behind" target="_blank">https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2016/leaving-no-one-behind</a></p>
<p>[5] Chakrabarti. A (2020, April 25). Visibly Invisible: The Plight Of Transgender Community Due To India's COVID-19 Lockdown. Outlook. Retrieved from: <a href="https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/opinion-visibly-invisible-the-plight-of-transgender-community-due-to-indias-covid-19-lockdown/351468" target="_blank">https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/opinion-visibly-invisible-the-plight-of-transgender-community-due-to-indias-covid-19-lockdown/351468</a></p>
<p>[6] Knight Kyle. (2019, December 05). India’s Transgender Rights Law Isn’t Worth Celebrating. Human Rights Watch. Retrieved from: <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/12/06/indias-transgender-rights-law-isnt-worth-celebrating" target="_blank">https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/12/06/indias-transgender-rights-law-isnt-worth-celebrating</a></p>
<p>[7] Dharmadhikari Sanyukta. (2019). Trans Bill 2019 passed in Lok Sabha: Why the trans community in India is rejecting it. The News Minute. August 05. Retrieved from: <a href="https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/trans-bill-2019-passed-lok-sabha-why-trans-community-india-rejecting-it-106695" target="_blank">https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/trans-bill-2019-passed-lok-sabha-why-trans-community-india-rejecting-it-106695</a></p>
<p>[8] Editorial. (2018, December 20). Rights, revised: on the Transgender Persons Bill, 2018. The Hindu. Retrieved from: <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/rights-revised/article25783926.ece" target="_blank">https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/rights-revised/article25783926.ece</a></p>
<p>[9] Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India. (2018). National e-Governance Plan. Retrieved from: <a href="https://meity.gov.in/divisions/national-e-governance-plan" target="_blank">https://meity.gov.in/divisions/national-e-governance-plan</a></p>
<p>[10] Kerala Development Society. (2017, February). <em>Study on Human Rights of Transgender as a Third Gender</em>. Retrieved from: <a href="https://nhrc.nic.in/sites/default/files/Study_HR_transgender_03082018.pdf" target="_blank">https://nhrc.nic.in/sites/default/files/Study_HR_transgender_03082018.pdf</a></p>
<p>[11] Verhulst, S. G., Young, A., Winowatan, M., & Zahuranec, A. J. (2019, October). <em>Leveraging Private Data for Public Good: A Descriptive Analysis and Typology of Existing Practices</em>. GovLab, Tandon School of Engineering, New York University. Retrieved from: <a href="https://datacollaboratives.org/static/files/existing-practices-report.pdf" target="_blank">https://datacollaboratives.org/static/files/existing-practices-report.pdf</a></p>
<p>[12] Kirkpatrick, R., & Vacarelu, F. (2018, December). A Decade of Leveraging Big Data for Sustainable Development. UN Chronicle, Vol. LV, Nos. 3 & 4. Retrieved from: <a href="https://unchronicle.un.org/article/decade-leveraging-big-data-sustainable-development" target="_blank">https://unchronicle.un.org/article/decade-leveraging-big-data-sustainable-development</a></p>
<p>[13] See [11].</p>
<p>[14] Ramanathan. U. (2014, May 02). Biometrics Use for Social Protection Programmes in India Risk Violating Human Rights of the Poor. UNRISD. Retrieved from: <a href="http://www.unrisd.org/sp-hr-ramanathan" target="_blank">http://www.unrisd.org/sp-hr-ramanathan</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/brindaalakshmi-k-gendering-development-data-india'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/brindaalakshmi-k-gendering-development-data-india</a>
</p>
No publisherBrindaalakshmi.KWelfare GovernanceData SystemsBig Data for DevelopmentResearchGender, Welfare, and PrivacyTransgenderResearchers at Work2020-06-30T10:26:40ZBlog Entry'I feel the pain of having nowhere to go': A Manipuri Trans Woman Recounts Her Ongoing Lockdown Ordeal
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/a-manipuri-trans-woman-recounts-her-ongoing-lockdown-ordeal-covid19
<b>"My life and work in Bengaluru came to an abrupt halt with the COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown this March. We no longer had jobs and were forced to plan our departure from the city." -- As told to Santa Khurai, Manipur-based queer and Nupi Manbi activist, artist and writer. Compiled by Aayush Rathi, a cisgender, heterosexual man, and researcher with Centre for Internet and Society, India. This account is part of an ongoing CIS research project on gender, welfare and surveillance in India, and is supported by Privacy International, UK.</b>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Originally published by <a href="https://www.firstpost.com/india/i-feel-the-pain-of-having-nowhere-to-go-a-manipuri-trans-woman-recounts-her-ongoing-lockdown-ordeal-8494321.html" target="_blank">Firstpost</a>, June 20, 2020.</em></p>
<hr />
<p>In 2015, I left my home state of Manipur for Bengaluru.</p>
<p>My name is Sarik*; I prefer to be known as Siku. I am a Nupi Manbi (trans woman).</p>
<p>Other Nupi Manbi had told me that Bengaluru is tolerant of transgender individuals, and that it is easy to find decent, well-paying jobs here. I contacted friends who had already moved here and relocated with their help.</p>
<p>Immediately, I found work at a fabric dyeing factory. The salary meant I could send some money home, my family was able to invest some of the funds in a monthly marup [revolving informal credit collective], and I was able to dream of someday having enough to buy a piece of land in Manipur.</p>
<p>I wasn’t to know at the time that just five years later, the happiness and hope would both prove fleeting.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>I grew up in a small locality of Imphal East District, the youngest of three siblings. My mother had passed away, my father is a priest and story-teller, and my older brother worked as a traditional cook. As a result, our lives were fairly hand-to-mouth.</p>
<p>The frequent shifting of homes was very difficult for me, but I had no choice in the matter. I used to earn money by assisting other transgender friends in their tailoring works. While I worked hard in order to set aside enough money to own a small piece of land, it proved impossible with my meagre earnings.</p>
<p>After years of struggle, I decided to move to a big city with the aspiration to earn more.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>My life and work in Bengaluru came to an abrupt halt with the COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown this March.</p>
<p>We no longer had jobs and were forced to plan our departure from the city. The Manipur government had announced measures that would allow stranded citizens to return to the state, so we began the formal process for our repatriation.</p>
<p>On 14 May 2020, three of us left Bengaluru in a special train that was organised for returnees to Manipur. Four days later, we were in Manipur.</p>
<p>When we reached Imphal, all returnees were first assembled at Modern College in Porompat, Imphal East. From there, we were sent to our respective constituencies to be quarantined. In the process, I was separated from my friends.</p>
<p>I was taken to Wangkhei Girl School as my permanent address falls under this constituency. At the quarantine centre, I was allocated a room shared by six other men. All the inmates were also sharing a toilet. This made me very uncomfortable; my body was undergoing changes due to hormonal effects.</p>
<p>In my discomfort, I reached out to transgender activist Santa Khurai, highlighting the need to set up a separate quarantine centre for transgender people. She immediately created a WhatsApp group for all the transgender people housed at different quarantine centres, keeping us updated about a separate quarantine centre for us. On the evening of 20 May, we rejoiced on seeing photos of the quarantine centre set up for transgender people. That night was the end of my terrible stay at the common quarantine centre.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>On 21 May, I was shifted to the quarantine centre for transgender people at Ideal Blind School, Takyel. There, I was reunited with two of my friends. We stayed there for 17 days, receiving support from Santa Khurai through telecounseling. Before the quarantine period concluded, we were tested for COVID-19. We did not receive the results, but were advised to go back home. We were provided an acknowledgment in the form of a medical document. The relatives and parents of the other two trans girls had come to pick them up, but since my family doesn’t own a vehicle and it was not possible to hire on, I called a transgender friend to drop me home. I could sense some animosity in the neighbourhood, and decided not to step out from the house.</p>
<p>On the morning of 4 June, local governing bodies and clubs including Meira Paibi [a women’s rights group] thronged my house. A large crowd gathered in the temple shed. The club and Meira Paibi leader called my family members out and we were made to sit in the middle of a large group of people. They asked me to produce the result of the COVID-19 test, and I showed the acknowledgement given to us at the quarantine centre. People in the crowd passed the paper to each other disapprovingly, arguing that I hadn’t been declared COVID negative. One of the local club leaders called the police and doctors. The doctor who was in charge of the facility for transgender persons responded to the call, and validated my discharge from quarantine.</p>
<p>After few hours, even the police arrived and said that I could stay at home. However, the locals pressured the cops into taking my family — including my frail father who is in his 80s — to the police station.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>We were finally allowed to leave the police station after several rounds of interrogation. My father, my brother (along with his wife and son) were taken back home by the police, while I was separately dropped off at a hotel in Gandhi Avenue, Thangal Bazar. I was advised to check in the hotel at around 3 pm; the charge was Rs 1,000 per day. When I asked the man who would pay for the room, he said, “Let’s see. At least you will be safe to stay here as the locals didn’t accept you coming home. You stay here until the test result come out.”</p>
<p>I called Santa in desperation, who consoled and reassured me. In the meantime, I had also called my sister to ask if some clothes could be brought for me. Her response alarmed and frightened me: My sister told me that my family were not being allowed to enter the house. The gate had been locked and they were instructed to stay at a quarantine centre as they were exposed to me. The news shocked me and made me desperate in wanting the test result to come out expeditiously, so that it would at least prevent any further hardships for my family.</p>
<p>Now I’m staying at the hotel. I fear going back to the house, the hostility of the locals, my family being attacked, my old father being forced to stay at a quarantine centre. I feel the pain of having nowhere to go. It is also infuriating to think that this could have been completely avoided had the officials not been in a haste to make us leave the quarantine centre, and had let us stay till the actual test results were received.</p>
<p><em>* Name changed to protect identity</em>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/a-manipuri-trans-woman-recounts-her-ongoing-lockdown-ordeal-covid19'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/a-manipuri-trans-woman-recounts-her-ongoing-lockdown-ordeal-covid19</a>
</p>
No publisherSanta KhuraiGenderCovid19ResearchGender, Welfare, and PrivacyResearchers at Work2020-06-22T11:42:39ZBlog EntryDWRU, BBGS & MKU - The Covid-19 Pandemic and the Invisible Workers of the Household Economy
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/dwru-bbgs-mku-covid19-invisible-household-workers
<b>Domestic Workers Rights Union (DWRU), Bruhat Bangalore Gruhakarmika Sangha (BBGS), and Manegelasa Kaarmikara Union (MKU) have prepared a report on the invisibilisation of domestic workers under the Covid-19 pandemic and a set of demands directed at the government and resident welfare associations (RWAs) for better, dignified and just treatment of domestic workers in Karnataka. We at CIS are proud to contribute to and publish this work as part of the ongoing 'Feminist Internet Research Network' project supported by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC).</b>
<p> </p>
<h4>Report: <a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/files/dwru-bbgs-mku-covid19-invisible-household-workers-report" target="_blank">Download</a> (PDF)</h4>
<p><em>This report is authored by Geeta Menon, and edited by Aayush Rathi (CIS) and Ambika Tandon (CIS).</em></p>
<hr />
<h3><strong>Introduction</strong></h3>
<p>Up until the first phase of the imposition of lockdown in India, while restrictions were enforced, domestic workers went to work as usual. Domestic workers were aware of the announcements of precautions, but the
employers insisted they come for work disregarding any concerns for workers' safety.</p>
<p>During the phase of strict imposition of the first lockdown, covering the time from March 24, 2020 to the first week of May, several corporate employees “worked from home”. While pictures of employers’ families spending family time, and learning to clean and cook, circulated widely on social media and in press, domestic workers lived in cramped conditions with the fear of rations running out.</p>
<p>In the first 2 weeks of May, a survey of nearly 2400 domestic workers in Bengaluru was conducted by Domestic Workers Rights Union (DWRU), Bruhat Bangalore Gruhakarmika Sangha (BBGS), and Manegelasa Kaarmikara Union. Some of the findings from the survey are below:</p>
<ul><li>2084 (about 87%) of the workers were told not to come for work since the lockdown in March and were not sure if and when they would be called to work again.</li>
<li>341 workers in the areas surveyed by BBGS (87%) and 150 workers in the areas surveyed by Manegelasa Kaarmikara Union lost their jobs entirely during the lockdown.</li>
<li>91% of workers lost their salaries for the month of April.</li>
<li>50% of all workers above the age of 50 lost their jobs during the lockdown.</li></ul>
<p>The report also showcases the tyranny and hypocrisy of resident welfare associations (RWAs) and employers. The period of relaxation of the lockdown has again seen RWAs issuing directives that are demeaning to domestic workers and pose insurmountable barriers to domestic workers’ ability to work. For example, several RWAs issued emails advising residents to ask domestic workers to minimise or avoid usage of the lift and take the stairs instead. They also discouraged domestic workers from waiting in the common areas in between shifts. RWAs also invaded domestic workers’ privacy by mandating the disclosure of personal information without any protocols in place to keep this information secure.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/dwru-bbgs-mku-covid19-invisible-household-workers'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/dwru-bbgs-mku-covid19-invisible-household-workers</a>
</p>
No publisherGeeta MenonCovid19ResearchNetwork EconomiesResearchers at WorkDigital Domestic Work2020-06-19T12:34:22ZBlog Entry A Compilation of Research on the Gig Economy
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/a-compilation-of-research-on-the-gig-economy
<b>Over the past year, researchers at CIS have been studying gig economies and gig workers in India. Their work has involved consultative discussions with domestic workers, food delivery workers, taxi drivers, trade union leaders, and government representatives to document the state of gig work in India, and highlight the concerns of gig workers.
The imposition of a severe lockdown in India in response to the outbreak of COVID-19 has left gig workers in precarious positions. Without the privilege of social distancing, these workers are having to contend with a drastic reduction in income, while also placing themselves at heightened health risks. </b>
<p> </p>
<h3 dir="ltr">On gig economy during the COVID-19 pandemic</h3>
<p dir="ltr">Supported by <a href="https://www.apc.org/en/project/firn-feminist-internet-research-network">Feminist Internet Research Network</a> led by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) and funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC)</p>
<ul><li style="list-style-type: disc;" dir="ltr">
<p dir="ltr">Along with Tandem Research, we spoke to leaders of four unions that represent gig workers across the country about the risks and vulnerabilities that they are having to contend with in the face of the COVID-19 crisis. <strong>Zothan Mawii</strong> (Tandem Research), <strong>Ambika Tandon</strong>, and <strong>Aayush Rathi</strong> share key reflections in this essay published on The Wire. (<a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/gig-workers-need-support">link</a>).</p>
</li><li style="list-style-type: disc;" dir="ltr">
<p dir="ltr">Based on the discussion, a charter of recommendations was prepared with contributions from participants, and was shared with public and private stakeholders. (<a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/covid-19-charter-of-recommendations">link</a>)</p>
</li></ul>
<div> </div>
<h3 dir="ltr">On domestic workers in the platform economy </h3>
<p dir="ltr">Supported by <a href="https://www.apc.org/en/project/firn-feminist-internet-research-network">Feminist Internet Research Network</a> led by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) and funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC)</p>
<ul><li style="list-style-type: disc;" dir="ltr">
<p dir="ltr">We discussed our ongoing research on the platformisation of domestic work in India with domestic workers, union members, and representatives from the Karnataka Labour Department in November 2019. <strong>Tasneem Mewa</strong> documented the rich discussion from this consultation. (<a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/platformisation-of-domestic-work-in-india-report-from-a-multistakeholder-consultation">link</a>)</p>
</li></ul>
<p dir="ltr">CIS worked with members of the Domestic Workers Rights Union to conduct field research on the lives and challenges of domestic workers in the platform economy. The following essays published on GenderIT capture their experiences of doing this research:</p>
<ul><li style="list-style-type: disc;" dir="ltr">
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Parijatha G.P.</strong> writes about a “gated society management app,” MyGate, and the experiences of surveillance of migrant workers in Bengaluru. (<a href="https://www.genderit.org/articles/domestic-work-platform-economy-reflections-awareness-workers-rights">link</a>) </p>
</li><li style="list-style-type: disc;" dir="ltr">
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Radha Keerthna</strong> writes about the similarity in the conditions of domestic workers in the traditional and platform economy, particularly the precarity and invisibility of labour. (<a href="https://www.genderit.org/articles/domestic-work-platform-economy-reflections-conducting-interviews-sensitive-issues">link</a>)</p>
</li><li style="list-style-type: disc;" dir="ltr">
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Sumathi</strong>, a union leader, reflects on and her experience as an activist-researcher interacting with domestic gig workers through the course of our study. (<a href="https://www.genderit.org/articles/domestic-work-platform-economy-reflections-difficulty-set-interviews">link</a>)</p>
</li><li style="list-style-type: disc;" dir="ltr">
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Zeenathunissa</strong> shares the difficulty of speaking to domestic workers in the gig economy, especially when workers undergo constant surveillance by employers and companies. (<a href="https://www.genderit.org/articles/domestic-work-platform-economy-reflections-research-and-social-work">link</a>)</p>
</li></ul>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<h3 dir="ltr">On economic, algorithmic, and affective vulnerabilities of gig workers</h3>
<p dir="ltr">Supported by <a href="https://azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/SitePages/research-grant-overview.aspx">Azim Premji University</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">CIS commissioned a set of four field studies of platform workers delivering food and driving taxis for platform companies in Mumbai and New Delhi. The researchers involved wrote a series of essays that were published by Platypus blog of CASTAC:</p>
<ul><li style="list-style-type: disc;" dir="ltr">
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Anushree Gupta</strong> explores women’s presence as workers as well as passengers/customers in the ride hailing platform economy in Mumbai and related concerns of safety and risk mitigation. (<a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/anushree-gupta-ladies-log-women-safety-risk-transfer-ridehailing">link</a>)</p>
</li><li style="list-style-type: disc;" dir="ltr">
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Sarah Zia</strong> highlights how algorithmic management of work and revenue targets of gig workers impact their everyday lives and plans for the future. (<a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/sarah-zia-not-knowing-as-pedagogy-ride-hailing-drivers-in-delhi">link</a>)</p>
</li><li style="list-style-type: disc;" dir="ltr">
<p dir="ltr">Kinship networks are a critical source of safety and security for workers in the gig economy. <strong>Simiran Lalvani</strong> writes about the network among transportation workers in Mumbai, also reflecting on implications for those who are excluded. (<a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/simiran-lalvani-workers-fictive-kinship-relations-app-based-food-delivery-mumbai">link</a>)</p>
</li><li style="list-style-type: disc;" dir="ltr">
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Noopur Raval</strong> and <strong>Rajendra Jadhav</strong> describe the unregulated and exploitative temporal structures of gig work, and how work-time of gig workers get configured by customer-facing promises of platform companies. (<a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/noopur-raval-rajendra-jadhav-power-chronography-of-food-delivery-work">link</a>)</p>
</li><li style="list-style-type: disc;" dir="ltr">
<p dir="ltr">The four researchers, led by <strong>Noopur Raval</strong> (co-PI for the project, held a roundtable discussion to reflect on methods, challenges, inter-subjectivities and possible future directions for research on the gig economy and its workers. (<a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/india-gig-work-economy-roundtable">link</a>)</p>
</li></ul>
The consultants - Noopur Raval, Anushree Gupta, Rajendra Jadhav, Sarah Zia and Simiran Lalvani - involved in this project on mapping digital labour in India’s platform economies (in Mumbai and New Delhi) gathered in <a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/platform-work-india-panel-discussion-20190719">Bengaluru on July 19, 2019</a> to share their preliminary field insights along with reflections on what it meant to do such studies, how they went about studying gig-work, and challenges that arose in their work. Watch the livestream from this discussion <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1lwpb3jRMQ">here</a>.
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/a-compilation-of-research-on-the-gig-economy'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/a-compilation-of-research-on-the-gig-economy</a>
</p>
No publisherAayush Rathi, Ambika Tandon, Sumandro ChattapadhyayGenderDigital LabourCovid19ResearchPlatform-WorkRAW ResearchresearchResearchers at WorkDigital Domestic Work2020-05-19T08:20:20ZBlog EntryFrom Health and Harassment to Income Security and Loans, India's Gig Workers Need Support
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/gig-workers-need-support
<b>Deemed an 'essential service' by most state governments, and thereby exempt from temporary suspension during the COVID-19 lockdown, food, groceries and other essential commodities have continued to be delivered by e-commerce companies and on-demand services. Actions to protect workers, who are taking on significant risks, have been far less forthcoming than those for customers. Zothan Mawii (Tandem Research), Aayush Rathi (CIS) and Ambika Tandon (CIS) spoke with the leaders of four workers' unions and labour researchers to identify recommended actions that public agencies and private companies may undertake to better support the urgent needs of gig workers in India. </b>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Originally published by <a href="https://thewire.in/business/covid-19-lockdown-delivery-gig-workers" target="_blank">The Wire</a> on April 29, 2020.</em></p>
<hr />
<p>Nearly two weeks ago, news broke that a Zomato delivery worker <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/pizza-man-who-tested-covid-19-positive-also-delivered-food-for-us-zomato-6365513/" target="_blank">tested positive for COVID-19</a> in New Delhi.</p>
<p>As many as 72 families in the south Delhi neighbourhood where he made deliveries have been quarantined, along with 17 other people he worked with. With the luxury of social distancing not extended to delivery workers, the incident further fuelled the apprehensions and uncertainties that they already were contending with. This was only a matter of time.</p>
<p>Deemed an “essential service” by most state governments, and thereby exempt from temporary suspension during the lockdown, food, groceries and other essential commodities have continued to be delivered by e-commerce companies and on-demand services including Swiggy, Zomato, BigBasket, Dunzo, Housejoy and Flipkart.</p>
<p>In choosing to continue operations, these companies have then rushed to enforce measures to put customers at ease. Such measures have included no-contact deliveries, card-only payments, and displaying temperature readings of workers.</p>
<p>Uber and Ola Cabs suspended services in most areas, and announced that in places where they are <a href="https://www.livemint.com/news/india/covid-19-uber-to-offer-cabs-for-essential-services-11586077100965.html" target="_blank">providing essential services</a>, workers have been instructed to wear masks and observe hygiene standards.</p>
<p>Swiggy and Zomato announced they were communicating with workers about safety and hygiene standards. Zomato has more recently <a href="https://twitter.com/deepigoyal/status/1252844887797428230" target="_blank">announced</a> that the company is making the Aarogya Setu app mandatory for workers to receive orders.</p>
<p><a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/covid-19-zomato-sets-up-funds-for-income-starved-daily-wage-workers-in-india/articleshow/74823838.cms" target="_blank">Relief funds</a> have been set up— donations to these funds continue to be solicited from the public and company executives have made grandiose gestures of <a href="https://www.carandbike.com/news/ola-introduces-drive-the-driver-fund-initiative-to-fund-relief-for-driver-community-2201886" target="_blank">contributing their salaries</a> to these funds.</p>
<p><strong>Stark reality</strong></p>
<p>The situation on the ground, however, tells another story. Actions to protect workers, who are taking on significant risks, have been far less forthcoming than those for customers. Workers are also bearing the brunt of arbitrary surveillance measures, like being asked to download the Aarogya Setu app, in addition to scrutiny they are placed under regularly. No such surveillance measures have been placed on customers. The priorities of on-demand service companies are clear: protect the bottom line at the expense of vulnerable workers.</p>
<p>In the absence of any concerted support from the companies, service workers could have looked to the state for relief. None has been forthcoming. Government action has pegged the targeting of relief works and services to those currently eligible for welfare programs and registered under its various schemes. Most gig workers, if not all, are ineligible as a result of the arbitrary conditions underlying these schemes.</p>
<p>We spoke to the leaders of four unions — including the Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT) and the Ola and Uber Drivers and Owners’ Association (OTU)– who represent gig workers across the country about the risks and vulnerabilities that they are having to contend with.</p>
<p>The precariousness characterising gig work could not be starker. A summary of the discussions can be found <a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/zothan-mawii-covid-19-and-relief-measures-for-gig-workers-in-india" target="_blank">here</a>, while the recommendations emerging from these discussions have been shared with government officials and company representatives and can be found in full <a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/covid-19-charter-of-recommendations" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
<p>Below are some of the key recommendations that emerged from these discussions.</p>
<p><strong>Health</strong></p>
<p>Many on-demand service companies have not provided workers with any personal protective equipment (PPE), not even to delivery workers who face heightened risks of exposure to the coronavirus at nearly every step of the delivery process.</p>
<p>Some unions had to take to distributing masks, while many other workers continue to incur repeated costs to safeguard their own health. At a later stage, Swiggy announced that workers would be reimbursed for these purchases, but the process is so tedious that workers have found it untenable.</p>
<p>In addition, health awareness campaigns regarding safety measures and risks were also launched very late into the crisis, and then were not in vernacular languages and could not be comprehended by most workers.</p>
<p>In terms of insurance, most platforms have announced financial assistance for workers who test positive for COVID-19. This is aimed at covering their hospital expenses, as well as providing a daily stipend for a limited period. However, these come short as there are no provisions for OPD consultations or even for the cost of going and getting tested (losing one day’s work and then potentially one more before the results come in).</p>
<p>Additionally, the difficulty and expenses of obtaining a test could place an additional burden on workers — as without proof of a positive test, workers will be unable to access this fund in the first place. This is far from the robust health insurance that must be provisioned to ensure workers’ health and safety. Some platforms have made telemedicine services available for workers and while this is a step in the right direction, it must be backed by more tangible protections like covering part of the costs incurred for treatment.</p>
<p>Unions demand that companies provide adequate PPE to workers free of cost —masks, gloves, hand sanitisers, and soap. If platforms continue to ask workers to log in at significant risks to themselves and their families, provision of safety equipment is the basic minimum requirement that must be met immediately. This should also include a plan to ensure workers’ access to clean and hygienic sanitation facilities, as they may not have access to these on their delivery routes.</p>
<p>In addition, platforms must provide health insurance cover in addition to accident insurance coverage and hospitalisation cover for COVID-19. This should include OPD consultations.</p>
<p><strong>Income security and social protection</strong></p>
<p>With services suspended or demand really low, gig workers have either lost their income or seen it fall drastically — delivery workers’ daily earnings are as low as Rs 150-Rs 300 for a full day’s work.</p>
<p>Almost a month into the lockdown, there is little clarity as to who is eligible for the funds that companies have raised, and in what manner and or what purposes it will be disbursed.</p>
<p>Ola Cabs has offered interest free loans to drivers for relief in the short term, while some Uber drivers have received a Rs 3,000 grant from the company. If disbursed universally this would ensure availability of some liquidity for workers, although at this stage it remains unclear if all drivers are eligible to receive the grant.</p>
<p>Workers and unions are afraid that this grant might only be accessible for workers with high ratings, or those who have logged longer hours especially through the course of the lockdown period. This would effectively penalise workers for going to their homes for the lockdown, or being otherwise unable to work. Unions have estimated that not more than 20 percent of workers continue to remain active through the lockdown period.</p>
<p>Moreover, research has shown that workers are not necessarily aware of the protections made available to them as a result of the legalese that companies couch these terms in.</p>
<p>To ensure income security, platforms must make direct cash transfers to all workers who have logged in for at least two weeks between January and April 2020. This should be fixed according to minimum wage standards for skilled work in each state or at Rs 1,000 per day of the lockdown, and will have to be enforced with retrospective effect.</p>
<p>The former should be treated as an entitlement of workers while a portion of the latter can be asked to be repaid by the workers over the course of the next year. The fiscal responsibility for the cash transfers can be shared with governments. Governments can request the data held by these companies for the transfers.</p>
<p><strong>Rent and loans</strong></p>
<p>Some states have announced moratoriums on house rent but again there is no explicit mention of gig workers being included in this — and in states where such a move hasn’t been announced, gig workers must continue to pay house rent without having a source of income to rely on.</p>
<p>On the issue of loan repayments, the RBI allowed lending institutions to grant a three-month moratorium on retail loan repayments as a part of its COVID-19 regulatory package. On the one hand, availing of the moratorium will significantly increase the loan tenure and total amount to be repaid. On the other, several gig workers have reported that the enforcement of the moratorium itself has been piecemeal outside of public sector institutions.</p>
<p>Here again they have to make a Faustian bargain. The government should enforce the RBI’s directive strictly so gig workers get some relief.</p>
<p>Further, several companies themselves have leased vehicles to workers, for which payment of EMI must be ceased through the months of March to May to allow workers some relief without requiring the return of vehicles. Currently, EMIs have only been stalled on the condition of returning vehicles.</p>
<p><strong>Harassment</strong></p>
<p>Workers have been subject to harassment and discrimination by the police and customers alike, making it difficult to continue work. Despite the categorisation of delivery as an essential service, companies are finding it difficult to get easy access to movement passes in bulk, which implies that workers are penalised by being unable to work even if they are available. Companies have come out to allege harassment despite clear directions to allow movement of delivery workers, which points to gaps in enforcement.</p>
<p>Further, frequent barricading has implied that workers are not able to complete orders without diversions despite having passes for movement. Meanwhile, companies continue to mandate door-to-door delivery so as to ensure that customers are not inconvenienced at all. In some cases, this has implied that workers have to travel on foot in barricaded areas to deliver orders.</p>
<p>We recommend that companies urgently set up a helpline for workers to address such issues that may arise in delivery. We also recommend that companies proactively work with the government to map hotspots and containment zones and cease delivery in such areas. Thus far, there is no indication of any such measures by companies.</p>
<p><strong>Post-lockdown revival</strong></p>
<p>The lockdown brings to the fore just how vulnerable gig workers are.</p>
<p>This is a direct consequence of the gig work arrangements structured as disguised employment. Deeming workers as independent contractors and self-identifying as technology providers, on-demand service companies have washed their hands of the responsibility of providing labour protections and social security measures despite exerting extensive control over the conditions of work (such as wages, incentives) and the manner of its dispensing (such as the standard of work, hours of work).</p>
<p>Governments, too, have done little to recognise gig workers although they have been added as a category of workers in the draft Social Security code. Relief measures announced by the government exclude them. However, the government needs to intervene urgently in the current situation.</p>
<p>Platforms are likely to recover once the lockdown is lifted —home delivery services like BigBasket and Grofers have already seen their businesses skyrocket.</p>
<p>However, there is an urgent need to rebuild on-demand work as one that isn’t merely in the service of capital. A first step to that would be to reduce commissions to 5% for at least 6 months so that workers can recover financially. The unencumbered spending to capture market share at the expense of workers needs to be curbed. Enforcing these recommendations will require a coordinated effort between governments and on-demand service companies. As consumers, it is also our responsibility to question companies that do not take on the moral responsibilities of extending adequate worker protections.</p>
<p>With unemployment in the country skyrocketing, it may be the case that on-demand work opens up avenues to securing work. It then becomes imperative to ensure any future of work is one that is inclusive and accounts for the systemic changes that are now impossible to ignore.</p>
<p>While social distancing is a choice truly available to a privileged few, we need to ensure that social protection isn’t.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/gig-workers-need-support'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/gig-workers-need-support</a>
</p>
No publisherZothan Mawii (Tandem Research), Aayush Rathi (CIS), and Ambika Tandon (CIS)Gig WorkDigital LabourResearchPlatform-WorkNetwork EconomiesPublicationsResearchers at Work2020-05-19T06:57:36ZBlog EntryCOVID-19 Charter Of Recommendations on Gig Work
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/covid-19-charter-of-recommendations
<b>Tandem Research and the Centre for Internet and Society organised a webinar on 9 April 2020, with unions representing gig workers and researchers studying labour rights and gig work, to uncover the experiences of gig workers during the lockdown. Based on the discussion, the participants of the webinar have drafted a set of recommendations for government agencies and platform companies to safeguard workers’ well being. Here are excerpts from this charter of recommendation shared with multiple central and state government agencies and platforms companies.</b>
<p> </p>
<em><a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/zothan-mawii-covid-19-and-relief-measures-for-gig-workers-in-india" target="_blank">Summary of discussions</a> from the COVID-19 and Gig Economy webinar, authored by Zothan Mawii, Tandem Research</em>
<hr />
<h3><strong>Contributors</strong></h3>
<ol>
<li>Aayush Rathi, Ambika Tandon and Tasneem Mewa, The Centre for Internet and Society, India</li>
<li>Aditi Surie, Indian Institute for Human Settlements</li>
<li>Anita Gurumurthy and Nandini Chami, IT for Change</li>
<li>Astha Kapoor, Aapti Institute</li>
<li>Dharmendra Vaishnav, Indian Delivery Lions (IDL)</li>
<li>Janaki Srinivasan, International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore</li>
<li>Kaveri Medappa, University of Sussex</li>
<li>Pradyumna Taduri, Fairwork Foundation</li>
<li>Rakhi Sehgal, Gurgaon Shramik Kendra</li>
<li>Sangeet Jain, Researcher</li>
<li>Shaik Salauddin, Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT)</li>
<li>Shohini Sengupta, Assistant Professor of Research, Jindal School of Banking and Finance</li>
<li>Simiran Lalvani, Independent researcher</li>
<li>Tanveer Pasha, Ola, Taxi 4 Sure and Uber Drivers and Owners’ Association (OTU)</li>
<li>P. Vignesh Ilavarasan, Researcher and professor, IIT Delhi</li>
<li>Vinay Sarathy, United Food Delivery Partners’ Union (UFDPU)</li>
<li>Vinay K. Sreenivasa, Advocate, Alternative Law Forum</li>
<li>Zothan Mawii, Iona Eckstein and Urvashi Aneja, Tandem Research</li></ol>
<h3><strong>Context</strong></h3>
<p>The nationwide lockdown in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on ‘gig workers’ working for on-demand service platforms such as those providing ride-hailing, home-based work and food delivery services and also e-commerce companies. Those driving for on-demand transportation companies have lost their source of livelihood as services remain suspended.</p>
<p>Workers for on-demand delivery and home-based services, on the other hand, have been deemed “essential” and continue to work although demand has fallen drastically. Earnings for delivery workers have fallen to as low as INR 100-300 per day for a whole day’s work. Workers face a high risk of contracting COVID-19 due to their exposure to multiple customers. Apprehensions are rising after a <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/pizza-man-who-tested-covid-19-positive-also-delivered-food-for-us-zomato-6365513/" target="_blank">delivery worker for Zomato</a> tested positive for COVID-19 in New Delhi. Demand has fallen further but delivery workers must continue to put themselves and their families’ health and safety at risk with limited or no provisions for personal protective equipment or other safety measures <a href="https://gadgets.ndtv.com/apps/news/swiggy-zomato-customer-advisory-coronavirus-outbreak-covid-19-india-2193038" target="_blank">offered by companies</a>.</p>
<p>The relief works announced by the central and state governments do not specifically provide for ‘gig workers’. At the same time, the measures announced by on-demand service companies are inadequate, ambiguous and inconsistent. The eligibility, manner and quantum of relief and the process of availing relief is unclear to workers.</p>
<p>We urge you to bolster the socio-economic and healthcare protections for ‘gig workers’ in India in light of the outbreak of COVID-19. Any efforts aimed at directing relief to ‘gig workers’ will have to be combined, involving the central and state governments and on-demand service companies.</p>
<p>We suggest that the measures adopted incorporate the recommendations outlined below. The recommendations have been drafted after discussion between civil society actors including labour unions from delivery and transportation sectors, researchers, and activists. A summary of the discussions leading to this charter of recommendations can be found <a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/zothan-mawii-covid-19-and-relief-measures-for-gig-workers-in-india" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
<h3><strong>Charter of Recommendation on Gig Work</strong></h3>
<p><img src="https://cis-india.org/raw/covid19-charter-image-1/" alt="null" width="85%" /></p>
<p><img src="https://cis-india.org/raw/covid19-charter-image-2/" alt="null" width="85%" /></p>
<p><img src="https://cis-india.org/raw/covid19-charter-image-3/" alt="null" width="85%" /></p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/covid-19-charter-of-recommendations'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/covid-19-charter-of-recommendations</a>
</p>
No publisherAayush Rathi and Ambika TandonResearchers at WorkGig WorkDigital LabourCovid19ResearchPlatform-WorkFuture of WorkFeaturedNetwork EconomiesHomepage2020-05-13T08:53:02ZBlog EntryZothan Mawii - COVID-19 and Relief Measures for Gig Workers in India
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/zothan-mawii-covid-19-and-relief-measures-for-gig-workers-in-india
<b>CIS is cohosted a webinar with Tandem Research on the impact of the COVID-19 response on the gig economy on 9 April 2020. It was a closed door discussion between representatives of workers' unions, labour activists, and researchers working on gig economy and workers' rights to highlight the demands of workers' groups in the transport, food delivery and care work sectors. We saw this as an urgent intervention in light of the disruption to the gig economy caused by the nationwide lockdown to limit proliferation of COVID-19. This is a summary of the discussions that took place in the webinar authored by Zothan Mawii, a Research Fellow at Tandem Research.</b>
<p> </p>
<em>Re-posted from <a href="https://tandemresearch.org/blog/covid19-and-relief-measures-for-gig-workers-in-india" target="_blank">Tandem Research</a> (April 14, 2020)</em>
<hr />
<h3><strong>List of Participants</strong></h3>
<ul>
<li>Aayush Rathi, Ambika Tandon and Tasneem Mewa, The Centre for Internet and Society, India (Co-organisers)</li>
<li>Zothan Mawii, Iona Eckstein and Urvashi Aneja, Tandem Research (Co-organisers)</li>
<li>Aditi Surie, Indian Institute for Human Settlements</li>
<li>Astha Kapoor, Aapti Institute</li>
<li>Dharmendra Vaishnav, Indian Delivery Lions (IDL)</li>
<li>Janaki Srinivasan, International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore</li>
<li>Kaveri Kaliyanda, The University of Sussex</li>
<li>Pradyumna Taduri, Fairwork Foundation</li>
<li>Rakhi Sehgal, Independent researcher</li>
<li>Shaik Salauddin, Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT)</li>
<li>Simiran Lalvani, Independent researcher</li>
<li>Tanveer Pasha, Ola, Taxi 4 Sure and Uber Drivers and Owners’ Association (OTU)</li>
<li>Vinay Sarathy, United Food Delivery Partners’ Union (UFDPU)</li></ul>
<h3><strong>What relief measures do gig workers need during this pandemic?</strong></h3>
<p>The coronavirus pandemic has the world in its grips, and exposed the fragility of our economic systems and societal structures. The ensuing lockdown and physical distancing measures put in place by states to control the spread of the virus has impacted citizens differently and largely along class lines. While white collar workers remain relatively insulated as they work from home and have their essentials delivered, it has laid bare the vulnerabilities faced by India’s largely informal workforce. Since announcing the lockdown and the exodus of migrant workers from cities, the central and state governments in India have announced a number of relief measures for workers. However, those working on on-demand platforms have been excluded, while relief measures announced by a few platforms are inadequate to provide meaningful protection, leaving workers to fall at the cracks. Tandem Research and the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) hosted a webinar on 9th April with a group of union leaders and researchers to draft a charter of demands for platforms and government to ensure better protection for gig workers.</p>
<p>We heard from 4 union leaders about the situation facing workers on the ground and the shortcomings of the measures platforms claim to be taking to ensure their workers' safety and protection. This piece recaps some of the issues that were uncovered during the meeting.</p>
<p>Tanveer Pasha, President of Ola, Taxi 4 Sure and Uber Drivers and Owners’ Association (OTU) and Shaik Salauddin, President of the Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT) pointed out that while Ola Cabs and Uber claim to have instructed drivers on safety and hygiene measures and provided personal protective equipment (PPE), in reality their efforts have been wanting. The unions themselves have been conducting these awareness drives while IFAT purchased masks for drivers in Telangana. On-demand food delivery services have also not provided workers with any PPE, although they have been deemed essential workers and must continue to interact with customers and restaurants as they go about their tasks.</p>
<p><strong>High on the list of concerns facing gig workers was income security and the security of their jobs once the lockdown is lifted</strong>. Transportation companies Uber and Ola cab have suspended services although some drivers in Bengaluru, working with OTU have pivoted to delivering essential goods or transporting healthcare workers. The number of orders on on-demand food delivery services has dropped drastically too. Gig workers are earning little to no money during this time and have little recourse to savings or other safety nets.</p>
<p><strong>Unions are demanding that workers are paid a sum of money to tide them over during this time, which can be paid back to the platforms without interest</strong>. Unions argue that the commissions charged by platform companies can be used to cover these costs and even call for a reduction in the commission after the lockdown is lifted so that workers can recover financially.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.carandbike.com/news/ola-introduces-drive-the-driver-fund-initiative-to-fund-relief-for-driver-community-2201886" target="_blank">Ola Cabs</a> and <a href="https://yourstory.com/2020/03/coronavirus-zomato-feed-daily-wager" target="_blank">Zomato</a> have started funds to support their workers, taking donations from the public and from management, <strong>but workers are yet to see the benefits of the funds</strong>. With little transparency or clarity as to how these funds will operate, unions and workers are left wondering if this is solely a publicity move on the part of platforms. No announcements have been made regarding these funds - who is eligible for the fund? What are the criteria workers will have to meet to receive funds? Will workers have to pay the amount back to the platforms? If yes, will it carry interest? Will workers’ ratings or the hours they’ve logged on the app be used to determine their eligibility?</p>
<p>The government announced a moratorium on EMI and loan repayments, and has directed the RBI to set guidelines. Some state governments have also announced waivers on house rent payments. While these measures should have eased the pressure on gig workers, that hasn’t been the case - <strong>informal lenders and non banking financial companies (NBFC) have continued to ask workers for payments, flouting the RBI guidelines</strong>. In the absence of enforcement from the government, gig workers are unable to reap the benefits of directives designed to relieve the financial pressure they are currently under.</p>
<p><strong>Delivery workers find themselves in a double bind</strong> - they have been deemed essential workers by the government and on-demand services remain up and running. However, with few restaurants remaining open and few orders coming in, they are forced to work long hours for little money, and in risky conditions as roads remain deserted because of the lockdown. Dharmender Vaishnav (Indian Delivery Lions) and Kaveri Kaliyanda (PhD scholar, University of Sussex) raised pertinent questions over the classification of delivery workers as essential workers - <strong>Who are the workers essential for? At what personal cost to their health and safety must delivery workers continue to serve the interests of platforms and their middle class customer base?</strong> This categorisation also allows on-demand food delivery companies to absolve themselves of the responsibility for ensuring workers receive wages - they can claim services continued to operate and shift the blame onto workers for not logging in. Many of the workers who have gone back to their native towns and villages are anxious that their accounts will be deactivated for not logging in.</p>
<p>These issues facing gig workers will be drafted into a set of demands for platforms and government to provide relief. However, many questions remain unanswered. While these measures may address the hardships gig workers face in the short term, it doesn’t address long standing issues that characterise this line of work. The precarity of gig workers stems from the marginal space they occupy in the labour market. As ‘partners’ or ‘independent contractors’, they are not entitled to social protection measures from the government nor are platforms obliged to provide them. Unlike construction workers or domestic workers-who are also informal workers but enjoy recognition of an organised body and some legislative protections-they remain largely invisible to policymakers and government. Getting gig workers this type of recognition will be crucial to ensure their wellbeing. In Karnataka, there are efforts underway to introduce regulations similar to <a href="https://edd.ca.gov/Payroll_Taxes/ab-5.htm" target="_blank">California’s AB5 bill</a> that recognises gig workers as employers eligible for state and employer sponsored benefits. Gig workers have been included in the <a href="https://www.prsindia.org/sites/default/files/bill_files/Code%20on%20Social%20Security%2C%202019.pdf" target="_blank">draft Code on Social Security</a>. However, regulating platforms to make them more accountable and safeguarding worker welfare is long overdue. It is especially urgent at this time - the economic repression that will follow is likely to push more young jobseekers to the platform economy as a stop gap solution in the absence of suitable employment. The conditions of work platforms engender are far from ideal and should not become the model for jobs in the future.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/zothan-mawii-covid-19-and-relief-measures-for-gig-workers-in-india'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/zothan-mawii-covid-19-and-relief-measures-for-gig-workers-in-india</a>
</p>
No publisherZothan Mawii (Tandem Research)Gig WorkDigital LabourResearchPlatform-WorkFuture of WorkNetwork EconomiesResearchers at Work2020-05-19T05:41:57ZBlog EntryPlatformisation of Domestic Work in India: Report from a Multistakeholder Consultation
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/platformisation-of-domestic-work-in-india-report-from-a-multistakeholder-consultation
<b>On November 16, 2019, The Centre for Internet and Society invited officials from the Department of Labour (Government of Karnataka), members of domestic worker unions, domestic workers, company representatives, and civil society researchers at the Student Christian Mission of India House to discuss preliminary findings of an ongoing research project and facilitate a multistakeholder consultation to understand the contemporaneous platformisation of domestic work in India. Please find here a report from this consultation authored by Tasneem Mewa. </b>
<p> </p>
<h4>Report from the consultation: <a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/platformisation-of-domestic-work-in-india-report-february-2020/" target="_blank">Download</a> (PDF)</h4>
<h4>Agenda and details of the consultation: <a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/domestic-work-in-the-gig-economy-20191116" target="_blank">URL</a></h4>
<hr />
<h3>Introduction</h3>
<p>On November 16, 2019, The Centre for Internet and Society invited officials from the Department of Labour (Government of Karnataka), members of domestic worker unions, domestic workers, company representatives, and civil society researchers at the Student Christian Mission of India House to discuss preliminary findings of an
ongoing research project and facilitate a multistakeholder consultation to understand the contemporaneous platformisation of domestic work in India.</p>
<p>This collaborative project is being led by the the Centre for Internet and Society, India (CIS) together with Domestic Workers Rights Union (DWRU) in Bangalore. The research team comprises of Geeta Menon, Parijatha G.P., Sumathi, Radha K., and Zennathunnisa from DWRU, and Aayush Rathi and Ambika Tandon from CIS. Through a collective research process, this research team has explored the proliferation of digital platforms as a key intermediary in the domestic work sector, and in supporting or challenging deeply rooted structural inequities. For more information on the research project, see the project announcement published on the CIS website [1]. This work forms part of the Association for Progressive Communications’ <a href="https://www.apc.org/en/project/firn-feminist-internet-research-network" target="_blank">Feminist Internet Research Network</a> project, supported by the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada.</p>
<p>The multistakeholder consultation was structured in two segments: a) a presentation outlining initial observations and analysis, and b) a semi-moderated open discussion. Together, these sessions aimed to initiate conversations pertaining to the role of digital platforms, the legal classification of domestic and gig workers, and devising regulatory solutions to improve conditions of work. Preliminary findings were based on qualitative in-depth interviews with workers, platform companies, unions, skilling agencies, and labour officials in both Bengaluru and
New Delhi. Feminist approaches were employed in conducting these interviews, and participatory, consensual, reflexive and collaborative research was prioritised.</p>
<p>Situating the lived realities of domestic workers, the event sought to centre the voice of domestic workers in the consultation around the future of their work. The event had attendance from multilingual attendees. The original presentation was made in English, and Geeta Menon translated the presentation and the discussion that followed in Kannada [2].</p>
<p> </p>
<h3>Footnotes</h3>
<p>[1] Tandon, A., & Rathi, A. (2019, October 1). Digital mediation of domestic and care work in India: Project
Announcement. Retrieved from <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/https://cis-india.org/raw/digital-domestic-work-india-announcement" target="_blank">https://cis-india.org/raw/digital-domestic-work-india-announcement</a></p>
<p>[2] Rathi, A. (2019, November 16). Domestic Work in the 'Gig Economy'. Retrieved from
<a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/domestic-work-in-the-gig-economy-20191116" target="_blank">https://cis-india.org/raw/domestic-work-in-the-gig-economy-20191116</a>; Tandon, A., & Rathi, A. (2019).
Domestic workers in the ‘gig’ economy [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from
<a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/domestic-work-and-platforms-presentation" target="_blank">https://cis-india.org/raw/domestic-work-and-platforms-presentation</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/platformisation-of-domestic-work-in-india-report-from-a-multistakeholder-consultation'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/platformisation-of-domestic-work-in-india-report-from-a-multistakeholder-consultation</a>
</p>
No publishertasneemDigital EconomyRAW EventsDigital LabourResearchResearchers at WorkDigital Domestic Work2020-02-17T09:46:52ZBlog EntryAnnouncing Selected Researchers: Welfare, Gender, and Surveillance
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/announcing-selected-researchers-welfare-gender-and-surveillance
<b>We published a Call for Researchers on January 10, 2020, to invite applications from researchers interested in writing a narrative essay that interrogates the modes of surveillance that people of LGBTHIAQ+ and gender non-conforming identities and sexual orientations are put under as they seek sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services in India. We received 29 applications from over 10 locations in India in response to the call, and are truly overwhelmed by and grateful for this interest and support. We eventually selected applications by 3 researchers that we felt aligned best with the specific objectives of the project. Please find below brief profile notes of the selected researchers.</b>
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<h4>Call for Researchers: <a href="https://cis-india.org/jobs/researchers-welfare-gender-surveillance-call" target="_blank">URL</a></h4>
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<h2>Kaushal Bodwal</h2>
<p>Kaushal is persuing his MPhil in Sociology at Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi. He completed his Master's in Sociology at Centre for the Study of Social Systems, Jawaharlal Nehru University after getting a BSc honors degree in Biomedical Sciences from Delhi University. He is one of the founding members of Hasratein: a queer collective, New Delhi. He has been an active spokesperson for Queer and Trans Rights in India and have been on a number of panel discussion on Trans Act 2019 in various campuses. He has also delivered a lecture series on Colonialism and Medicine in Ambedkar University, Kashmiri Gate, Delhi. His areas of interest are Sociology of medicine, gender and medicine, sexuality, religion and biomedical science, intersex studies.</p>
<p><a href="https://kafila.online/2019/08/27/queerness-as-disease-a-continuing-narrative-in-21st-century-india-kaushal-bodwal/" target="_blank">Queerness as disease – a continuing narrative in 21st century India</a>, Kafila, 27 August 2019</p>
<p><a href="https://www.firstpost.com/india/what-it-means-to-be-a-queer-and-live-under-regime-bent-on-remaking-india-on-terms-of-their-tradition-writes-queer-scholar-trolled-by-right-wing-7915391.html" target="_blank">What it means to be queer under a regime bent on remaking India on its own ideological terms</a>, Firstpost, 17 January 2020</p>
<h2>Rosamma Thomas</h2>
<p>Rosamma has worked both as a reporter and as an editor of news reports with newspapers. She currently writes reports for NGOs while also undertaking freelance reporting assignments. She is based in Pune.</p>
<p><a href="http://iced.cag.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2016-17/NTP%2007/article.pdf " target="_blank">India's mining state steps up fight to rein in killer silicosis</a>, The Times of India, 29 June 2016</p>
<p><a href="https://www.newsclick.in/doctor-may-have-found-early-marker-silicosis-who-will-fund-him" target="_blank">Doctor may have found early marker for silicosis, but who will fund him?</a>, Newsclick, 18 July 2019</p>
<p><a href="https://www.newsclick.in/Asbestos-Poisoning-Raghunath-Manwar-Fight-Safer-Work-Conditions" target="_blank">Asbestos poisoning: Raghunath Manwar’s fight for safer work conditions</a>, Newsclick, 9 January 2020</p>
<h2>Shreya Ila Anasuya</h2>
<p>Shreya is a writer, editor, journalist and performance artist currently based in Calcutta. Her fiction explores the places where myth, memory, history and the performing arts meet. As a journalist, her work explores gender, sexuality, politics, culture and history. She has been published in <em>The Wire</em>, <em>Caravan</em>, <em>Scroll</em>, <em>Mint Lounge</em>, <em>Deep Dives</em>, <em>GenderIT</em>, <em>Helter Skelter</em>, and many more. She is the editor of the digital publication <a href="https://medium.com/skin-stories" target="_blank"><em>Skin Stories</em></a>, housed at the non-profit Point of View. She is the writer and narrator of ‘Gul - a story in text, song and dance’ which has been performed in several cities in India. She was a Felix Scholar at SOAS, University of London, from where she has an MA in Anthropology. For a full portfolio, please click <a href="http://porterfolio.net/dervishdancing" target="_blank">here</a> or visit her <a href="https://www.shreyailaanasuya.com/" target="_blank">website</a>.</p>
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<p>This project is led by Ambika Tandon, Aayush Rathi, and Sumandro Chattapadhyay at the Centre for Internet and Society, and is supported by a grant from Privacy International.</p>
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For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/announcing-selected-researchers-welfare-gender-and-surveillance'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/announcing-selected-researchers-welfare-gender-and-surveillance</a>
</p>
No publishersumandroWelfare GovernancePrivacyGenderResearchGender, Welfare, and PrivacyResearchers at Work2020-02-13T15:04:24ZBlog EntryRoundtable on India’s Gig-work Economy
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/india-gig-work-economy-roundtable
<b>Working in the gig-economy has been associated with economic vulnerabilities. However, there are also moral and affective vulnerabilities as workers find their worth measured everyday by their performance of—and at—work and in every interaction and movement. This roundtable discussion marks the end of our series on 'India’s Gig-work Economy' published by the Platypus blog of the Committee on the Anthropology of Science, Technology, and Computing (CASTAC). In this discussion, the researchers reflect on methods, challenges, inter-subjectivities and possible future directions for research on the topic. Listen to the audio track below or read the transcript for the full discussion.</b>
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<p><em>Originally published by the <a href="http://blog.castac.org/category/series/indias-gig-work-economy/" target="_blank">Platypus blog</a> of CASTAC on September 5, 2019.</em></p>
<h4>Full <a href="http://blog.castac.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/CASTAC-roundtable-transcript.docx" target="_blank">transcript</a> of the roundtable in English.</h4>
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<iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/q4G4v46ZlOU" frameborder="0" height="315" width="100%"></iframe>
<h3><strong>Excerpts from the roundtable</strong></h3>
<h4>Part 1: On continuities between traditional and newer forms of work in cab-driving</h4>
<p><strong>Anushree (researcher, taxi-driving in Mumbai):</strong> “Something that came out during field work was the flow of workers from traditional services to app-based services which kind of happened in phases and all these platforms have played a different function in the history of this. While the radio taxis were more important in teaching workers to become professionals in the service economy the new platforms have given them a larger customer base and hired access to audience.”</p>
<p><strong>Sarah (researcher, taxi-driving in Delhi):</strong> “Prior to Ola and Uber there were radio cabs, but they were not the same phenomenon obviously. They used to work in specific pockets better, such as the airport route.”</p>
<h4>Part 2: Regulation of platform companies and platform-work</h4>
<p>The State’s response to disruptive technologies in India has always accounted for worker groups as electoral constituents as well. This means that there are no neat divisions between older black and yellow cabs and the newer ride-hailing app-based cabs. To pacify the threatened black and yellow cab drivers, they were accorded a special category on hailing apps as well:</p>
<p><strong>Anushree:</strong> So there were a lot of issues around the emergence of the app-based platforms and services and how they were disrupting the existing arrangements so in a bid to pacify the yellow and black cab drivers who are already operating in the city, these platform companies decided to go ahead and provide access to traditional taxi services as well. But also the related development that happened there is at the Maharashtra state government also provided another app to the black and yellow Cab drivers and as far as I found out during my fieldwork there hasn’t been any resolution on that front and most black and yellow cab drivers also use the State government made app but they also log into apps and every time I tried to book a black and yellow cab using Ola and Uber I could not get one.</p>
<h4>Part 3: On motivations and perceptions of gig-work</h4>
<p><strong>Simiran (researcher, food-delivery work in Mumbai):</strong> “So, I felt that these non app-based workers had difficulty joining apps because they lack domicile proof to prove they live in the city. There is also a perception that one needs to be English speaking. I am not implying that app-based workers have no rural roots or are all English speaking or educated but this is the perception that was held by non-app workers that was interesting.”</p>
<p><strong>Rajendra (researcher, food-delivery work in Delhi):</strong> “In case of the food-delivery workers in Delhi, they push them to deliver orders on time. This pressure makes them violate traffic rules, they ride on pavements, they break traffic signals. This also disrupts the social understanding of how to move in the city.”</p>
<h4>Part 4: On studying the gig-economy in India: how did you recruit, why?</h4>
<p><strong>Noopur:</strong> Why not order and recruit because so many people seem to be taking this pathway to approach gig-economy workers?</p>
<p><strong>Simiran:</strong> “…One thing is that I have never ordered food online so I wanted to keep it a bit blind that way but also the other thing is that I did not want my first interaction with the worker to be as a consumer or in a consumer-provider relationship. So, I was searching on Youtube, looking for city names and looking for search terms such as strikes or protests. Looking for videos about these things and their views on the companies…This was very interesting because there were also people from non-metro cities, from small towns doing this work who were also very eager to speak to me. They were expressive already and wanting to speak…”</p>
<p><strong>Anushree:</strong> “Apart from them fleet owners and union members were very eager to talk to us. They saw the study as a way to put their voice out. I had to establish my identity as well as a researcher. I used Telegram and facebook groups extensively…I think I relied on Telegram the most. It was also surprising that such a diverse set of people were on that platform. I had never used Telegram before this project but the comfort levels of all the people using it was really surprising. Drivers in the union members group was sort of surprising to me, they were posting images from the road, they were posting audio notes, they were moderating conversations in the group. Telegram was my major source of responses and I also got to know what was happening on the ground.”</p>
<p><strong>Sarah:</strong> “So, when you identify as a researcher and ask them these questions there is a certain expectation of allyship. So, I started asking them what they think is a good customer. That was a good entry point to assuring them that I was on their side. Some of them were still very cautious. We were talking about things like drunk women and they would be quick to tell me that not all women are bad. Or not all customers are bad. But discussing customers and their behavior was generally a good way to connect with them…”</p>
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For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/india-gig-work-economy-roundtable'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/india-gig-work-economy-roundtable</a>
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No publisherNoopur Raval, Anushree Gupta, Rajendra Jadhav, Sarah Zia, and Simiran LalvaniGenderDigital LabourResearchPlatform-WorkFuture of WorkNetwork EconomiesResearchers at WorkMapping Digital Labour in India2020-05-19T06:36:34ZBlog EntryNoopur Raval and Rajendra Jadhav - Power Chronography of Food-Delivery Work
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/noopur-raval-rajendra-jadhav-power-chronography-of-food-delivery-work
<b> Working in the gig-economy has been associated with economic vulnerabilities. However, there are also moral and affective vulnerabilities as workers find their worth measured everyday by their performance of—and at—work and in every interaction and movement. This essay by Noopur Raval and Rajendra Jadhav is the fourth among a series of writings by researchers associated with the 'Mapping Digital Labour in India' project at the CIS, supported by the Azim Premji University, that were published on the Platypus blog of the Committee on the Anthropology of Science, Technology, and Computing (CASTAC).</b>
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<p><em>Originally published by the <a href="http://blog.castac.org/category/series/indias-gig-work-economy/" target="_blank">Platypus blog</a> of CASTAC on August 15, 2019.</em></p>
<p><em>The ethnographic research was conducted by Rajendra and this short essay was collaboratively produced by the field researcher and Noopur (co-PI). The accompanying audio recording has been produced by Noopur.</em></p>
<h4>Summary of the essay in Hindi: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPIfIvp2000" target="_blank">Audio</a> (YouTube) and <a href="http://blog.castac.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Rajendra-Hindi-Transcript-.docx" target="_blank">Transcript</a> (text)</h4>
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<p>This post presents the observations around the design of temporality within app-based food-delivery platforms in India. It draws on semi-structured interviews by field-researcher Rajendra and his time spent “hanging out” with food-delivery workers who are also often referred to as “hunger saviors” and “partners” in the platform ecosystem in India. Like in the <a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/simiran-lalvani-workers-fictive-kinship-relations-app-based-food-delivery-mumbai" target="_blank">earlier post by Simiran Lalvani</a> on food-delivery workers in Mumbai, we also observed that app-based work was structured and monitored along similar lines. However, in this post, we go into a detailed description of how work-time and temporality of work are configured in order to fulfill the promises that app companies make to customers in urban India. Before such app-based services came into existence, there were some popular claims around delivery-time (“30 minutes or free pizza” by Domino’s) but the entire process of food preparation, travel and delivery had not been made as transparent and quantified in a granular way as they are now through popular apps such as Swiggy, Zomato and UberEats. While such companies exist in the other parts of the world and make the promise of “anytime work” to potential workers, as we observed during fieldwork, app-based food delivery-work is anything but flexible. People could indeed start working at any time of the day, but it had real consequences to earn a living wage. While they were free to logout or switch off their app also at their convenience, they would be constantly nudged in the form of calls by warehouse managers as well as through text messages telling them how they were missing out on earnings. It is also important to note that, in India especially, food-delivery as a standardized form of work, exists in a regulatory grey space. In that sense, there is not a lot of clarity on the maximum limit of working hours in a day and in a week. In the following sections, I provide details about how work is structured temporally in this system.</p>
<h3><strong>Shift-based Work</strong></h3>
<p>When Rajendra spoke to workers in the Delhi-NCR region, they reported that they could choose to work different kinds of shifts like part-time (8 AM – 3 PM or 7 PM – 12 AM), full-time (11 AM -11 PM) or ultra full-time (7 AM -11 PM). While workers could pick their timings or slots on weekdays, it was mandatory to work on the weekends. As mentioned earlier, while companies claimed that riders could log in and out at any time of the day, their pay depended on the number of deliveries they make and the hours they worked. But it’s not that simple. It is not just the wholly quantified units (an hour, a day) that become exigent and overbearing; it was in fact how these rules demanded high levels of alertness and care from the workers. Any kind of carelessness, not paying attention (to time, text message announcements) could be detrimental to claiming pay for the work they had done already. For instance, like a worker described, if he even logged out a minute before the end of the shift, he would lose out on his incentive. Another worker added,</p>
<blockquote>If you log off even five minutes before eleven (pm), a call comes from the company and they ask you to log back in immediately.</blockquote>
<p>In such cases, those managing the backend systems even make these calls to shield workers from the eventuality of losing pay and the hassle of resolving disputed payments later by simply urging and pushing workers to stay on-time and online. In that sense, there is not only an expectation of punctuality and always being-on as a desirable thing, but it is also imperative for the workers to meet these expectations while they interact with the app itself.</p>
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<img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/CIS_APU_DigitalLabour_PlatypusEssays_NRRJ_01.jpg/image_preview" alt="CIS_APU_DigitalLabour_PlatypusEssays_NR-RJ_01" class="image-left image-inline" title="CIS_APU_DigitalLabour_PlatypusEssays_NR-RJ_01" />
<h5>Sticker provided by a food-delivery platform to promote its brand. <em>Source: Noopur Raval, author</em>.</h5>
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<h3><strong>Time of Eating, Time of Sleeping</strong></h3>
<p>Typically, restaurants and food businesses in Indian cities are heavily regulated, especially in terms of closing times. While these rules differ for each city, in and around Delhi, restaurants are expected to close down by 10 pm, and those that seek to remain open for longer need special permissions. With the arrival of app-based delivery companies, the time of food production and consumption has stretched. Also, with the right kinds of permits, cloud kitchens and home-based producers are also allowed to operate through these platforms, thus making multiple food choices and cuisines available until as late as 4 am in the morning. Whose consumption needs are being serviced at these late hours is a question beyond the scope of this post, but it also means that there is opportunity/compulsion for workers to stay up late at night, making deliveries. Not surprisingly, it is also often these late-night shifts that are better incentivized, not just money-wise but also because there is less traffic at night (a constant source of stress in day-time shifts). As other studies have also noted, platform companies, especially food-delivery services that mostly engage bike and scooter riders (Lee et al. 2016) globally, enforce this cruel temporal inversion where being a service-worker in this economy also means working on others’ (customers’) time of leisure and/or comfort. Especially in Delhi, where the winters get brutally cold, ironically, the profitability of delivering hot food increases. However, it is not that straightforward. One worker Rajendra spoke to in March (springtime) explained,</p>
<blockquote>I am not going to work with any of the food delivery company from April onwards because of the hot summer in Delhi, it is very difficult to ride in a day time of summer.</blockquote>
<h3><strong>Temporary Work</strong></h3>
<p>Temporariness is the dominant temporal fate of gig-work at-large—workers in our study (food-delivery as well as ride-hailing) often insisted how gig-work was only temporary until they could become business-owners, find a better job, or fund their education and so on. However, as we observed in food-delivery work, there was also a lot of seasonal movement of workers, a reminder of the contextual, ecological and urban migration continuities that inform, support and shape who comes to the reserve force/waiting zone of gig-work. In classic labour terms, the push and pull factors that move people out of agricultural labour or other kinds of work must be studied with an eye to new forms of easy-entry jobs such as gig-work. On the other hand, there were also other considerations on time such as responsibilities and social obligations to family that made food-delivery work (fast paced, inhering a certain amount of recklessness and the willingness to put oneself at risk) less attractive to some (older men and women with a family) and more to some others (younger single men). This made us think of the way in which Sarah Sharma (2011) emphasizes temporal power over speed discourses (she offers the term ‘power-chronography’) where, the ways in which food-delivery work is temporally arranged, distributed and rewarded, privileges certain actors (the customers but also some kinds of workers) over others in the city’s labour market.</p>
<h3><strong>References</strong></h3>
<p>Lee, Do J., et al. “Delivering (in) justice: Food delivery cyclists in New York City.” <em>Bicycle Justice and Urban Transformation</em>. Routledge, 2016. 114-129.</p>
<p>Sharma, Sarah. “It changes space and time: introducing power-chronography.” <em>Communication Matters: Materialist Approaches to Media, Mobility and Networks</em> (2011): 66-77.</p>
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For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/noopur-raval-rajendra-jadhav-power-chronography-of-food-delivery-work'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/noopur-raval-rajendra-jadhav-power-chronography-of-food-delivery-work</a>
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No publisherNoopur Raval and Rajendra JadhavDigital LabourResearchPlatform-WorkNetwork EconomiesPublicationsResearchers at WorkMapping Digital Labour in India2020-05-19T06:33:39ZBlog Entry