From Informal Labour to Digital Platforms: The Sustainability of Assam's Emerging Gig Economy

Abstract

The rapid expansion of digital labour platforms across India has transformed traditional employment frameworks, triggering a significant rise in platform-based work within Assam (Baruah, 2021). This paper critically examines the opportunities and structural challenges characterising the gig economy in Assam, a region traditionally dominated by agriculture and informal labour. Drawing upon secondary literature and national policy reports (NITI Aayog, 2022), the analysis reveals that gig work provides vital avenues for income generation, operational flexibility, and economic inclusion, particularly for urban youth and women navigating limited formal job markets (Saxena, 2021). However, these opportunities are counterbalanced by severe precarity. In Assam, the growth of gig work is hampered by persistent challenges, including inadequate digital infrastructure in semi-urban and rural areas (Bezbarua, 2020), earnings volatility, lack of social safety nets, and algorithmic control by platform aggregators (Joshi, 2022; Saxena, 2021). Furthermore, the absence of localised regulatory oversight leaves gig workers excluded from standard labour protections, such as health insurance, minimum wage guarantees, and grievance redressal mechanisms (Baruah, 2021). This paper argues that for the gig economy to serve as a sustainable vehicle for regional development, Assam must adopt targeted policy interventions namely, expanding rural digital infrastructure, integrating platform workers into the localised frameworks of the Code on Social Security (Ministry of Labour and Employment, 2020), and fostering institutional skill development (NITI Aayog, 2022).