India, Feb. 7 -- India is racing toward becoming a $10-trillion economy by 2047, powered by digital platforms, e-commerce, and app-based services. Yet a contradiction sits at the heart of this growth story: the workers who sustain India's platform economy remain among its most insecure.

We already have over 7.7 million gig and platform workers, a number expected by NITI Aayog to cross 23.5 million by 2029-30. Gig workers are expected to form 6.7% of the non-agricultural workforce or 4.1% of the total workforce in India by 2029-30. Despite the rapid growth in this sector, income and the nature of job security are volatile, relying mostly on part-time or temporary positions with contractors and freelancers, rather than full-time workers. T...