Gist of EPW February Week 3, 2022

The Economic and Political Weekly (EPW) is an important source of study material for IAS, especially for the current affairs segment. In this section, we give you the gist of the EPW magazine every week. The important topics covered in the weekly are analyzed and explained in a simple language, all from a UPSC perspective.
TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Workers in Gig and Platform Economies
2. The Central Media Accreditation Guidelines, 2022
3. COVID-19 and Market Failure: An Indian Experience

1. Workers in Gig and Platform Economies

Context

There is an urgent need to protect labour rights and ensure minimum wages and social security benefits.

Recent Supreme Court judgement

• The gig (freelancers) and platform workers got a major boost to their efforts in securing labour rights.
• The Supreme Court in December 2021 hearing a public interest petition filed by the trade unions for claiming social security benefits, issued an order to the central government and important companies in the industry like Uber, Ola, Zomato, and Swiggy.
• The Supreme Court’s intervention provided the much needed relief to the workers.

The demands of the trade unions

• The petition asked that gig and platform workers should be recognised as workers under the various labour legislations.
• Arguing against the view that they are independent contractors, as claimed by the companies, the petitioner argued that they were workers as defined by the Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008.
• The trade unions argued that the denial of social security benefits violates Articles 14, 21, and 23 of the Constitution, which ensures equality, right to life, and protection from forced labour.
• The unions also mentioned the recent judgment in the United Kingdom (UK) Supreme Court, which held that the contract between Uber and the workers was a deception and that the actual relationship was that of employer and workers.

The judgement by the UK Supreme Court

• The UK Supreme Court said that the services offered by the drivers were defined and controlled by Uber, which also controlled their income by fixing the fares.
• The Court said that the uniform standard agreements were not negotiable and highlighted the fact that Uber was not providing technological services, but rather transportation services.
• Considering Uber’s control over the work process and the services provided, the Court squashed their classification as independent contractors and allowed the drivers all the employment benefits.
• Similarly,
  • The French Cour de Cassation stressed the relation of subordination between drivers and Uber,
  • The Court of Justice of the European Union noted that Uber was linked with transportation services regulated by government policy.
  • The Supreme Court of California emphasised that Uber was involved in every aspect of the operations.
• The major inference of these court orders is that the nature of employment can be best understood by the employer’s control over the income, working conditions, and the level of workers’ dependence on the employer.

The need for protection of the workers

• These judicial interference and the increasing number of gig and platform workers in a digitalised global economy call for measures to protect the workers.
• The arguments by the employers in these platforms hide the extensive employment insecurity, volatility of incomes, unpredictable workloads, and the absence of social security benefits in the sector.
• The efforts by the workers to secure their rights have also not been too successful.
• The Delhi Commercial Driver Union in 2007 had filed a petition in the Delhi High Court to look into the low level earnings and working conditions of drivers in Uber and other companies. It had asked for a committee to look into workers’ grievances and make recommendations to the government on the minimum wages.

Code on Social Security (CSS), 2020

• The CSS, 2020 was the first step towards recognising the status of gig and platform workers.
• The code defined a “gig worker” as a person who performs or participates in a work arrangement and earns from such activities outside of the traditional employer–employee relationship.
• The code defined “platform work” as a work arrangement outside of a traditional employer–employee relationship that uses an online platform to provide specific services in exchange for payment, and a platform worker is defined as a person engaged in or undertaking platform work.

Issues with the CSS, 2020

• The code misclassified both gig and platform workers and put them outside the purview of the existing labour laws.
• This classification deprives these workers of all entitlements to statutory protection.
• The code also gave an unfair advantage to the employers who could use ratings, technology, and algorithms to control the workers.

Conclusion

It is seen in the case of the Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008, which was ignored by the government for more than 10 years. It is in this regard, the trade unions have reached out to the Supreme Court for protection. But the government, rather than waiting for judicial interference, should consult all the stakeholders and immediately formulate required measures to ensure that all the gig and platform workers are protected under the laws.

2. The Central Media Accreditation Guidelines, 2022

Context

The new Central Media Accreditation Guidelines, 2022 released by the union government.

Central Media Accreditation Guidelines, 2022

• The Central Media Accreditation Guidelines, 2022 have defined the conditions for withdrawal of accreditation if a journalist acts in a manner prejudicial to,
  • Country’s security
  • Sovereignty and integrity
  • Friendly relations with foreign states
  • Public order
  • If charged with a serious cognisable offence
• The provisions are in line with Article 19(2) of the Constitution which specifies restrictions on the freedom of speech.
• These provisions are said to serve as guidelines for the press and media.
• According to the guidelines, the government will set up a Central Media Accreditation Committee.
  • The committee is chaired by the Principal Director General, Press Information Bureau (PIB), and up to 25 members are nominated by the Government.
  • Its function is to interpret and implement the guidelines.

Accreditation of Journalists

• A person with five years of minimum experience as a full-time journalist can apply for accreditation to the PIB.
• PIB then completes the process after a mandatory background check by the Home Ministry.
• Eligibility: A journalist working with a newspaper that has a circulation of 10,000 a day; news agencies with a minimum of 100 subscribers and digital news platforms with a minimum of 1 million unique visitors.
• The process of “accreditation” by the PIB means the application of a set of standards by the government to authorize journalists who will be given access to government offices and events.
• Ministries like Home, Defence and Finance give access to accredited journalists only.

Concerns with the Guidelines

• Concerns about the committee
  • Empowering a committee, composed of government officers, to suspend accreditation raises serious concerns.
  • This blocks the functioning of journalists and makes their jobs complex.
• Section 6.8 – mentions 10 grounds to suspend accreditation
  • Grants discretionary powers to the government-appointed committee to come to conclusions and interpretations.
  • This will lead to denial of accreditation to journalists who are critical of the Government.
• Accountability and Transparency
  • Journalists play a major role in ensuring transparency and accountability among government officials and their working.
  • The guidelines are said to hinder the working of the journalists as the watchdog of democracy.

Response by the Media

• The associations claim that the amendments have been brought into the guidelines sans any consultation with the media representatives and are against the specifications mentioned by the Press Council of India.
• The government is yet to respond to the accusations by the media associations.
• This moot response from the government is said to be because of the high dependence by the private media houses on the government.

Reasons for Indian private media’s high dependence on the government

• Economic reasons
  • The pandemic has depleted the media revenues.
  • Due to the state of India’s economy, there are very few sources of revenue for “events” that media outlets would organise.
• Technological reasons
  • In the digital era, technological changes have further affected the economic model of print and television media, as a high percentage of private advertising has gone to digital platforms.
  • This has made the media houses more dependent on government advertisements.
• Ideological reasons
  • With a strong ideological shift in recent years, the media are criticised for their lack of courage to report against the ruling powers in the states.

Also read: Information Technology Rules, 2021

3. COVID-19 and Market Failure: An Indian Experience

Context

The first infection of COVID-19 was reported in China, it then spread all around the world. The United States (US), India, and Brazil became the worst-hit countries globally. 

Overview

• As per WHO, close to 6 million people died due to COVID globally.
• The WHO declared the pandemic as a “public health emergency of international concern”.
• Even developed countries were seen struggling and are still struggling to devise plans to curb the further spread of the virus.
• The pandemic caused never before loss of lives, and also caused an unprecedented loss of jobs and income.
• The access to services has been affected and so is the delivery of essentials.  
• The constant demand and supply shocks have had a huge impact on the economy. 
• Despite extraordinary improvements in medical science and healthcare, it was shocking to see the world suffer casualties of life; interruption in transportation and logistics; and complete lockdowns disrupting normal life.

COVID-19 as a ‘Commodity’

• Based on the idea of David Hume (an economist from the 18th century), goods can be classified into private and public.

• Likewise, bad commodities are the ones with negative utility.
• Some bad commodities are non-excludable and non-rivalrous like polluted air and pandemics like COVID-19. 
  • They cause high negative externalities on people and society, which impacts social welfare.
• The features of non-rivalry and non-excludability of COVID-19 are not restricted to any jurisdiction, hence it is called a “global public bad”. 
  • Also, pandemics like COVID-19 impact all with the same rigour, irrespective of region, class, gender, religion, etc.
• From the pandemic, it is evident that virulence cannot be restricted and controlled by a single individual.
• The social marginal cost is significantly higher than the private marginal cost.
  • I.e. If a person is suffering from cancer, diabetes, hypertension, or any other ailment, and does not seek treatment it will affect only that specific person and will not impact others.
  • However, in the case of COVID-19, if one gets infected and is not treated he may infect the entire society as the transmission of the virus is very high.
• The prevailing interdependence on each other for economic activities and unavailability of medicine and vaccines have further aggravated the disease’s “public bad” character.

Exploitation by private hospitals during the Pandemic

• The private players in the healthcare sector started taking advantage of the crisis by containing their services. 
• The private hospitals tried to utilise the demand by raising their prices to increase their profits.
  • Example: The cost of COVID tests was fixed at Rs 4500 in private hospitals during the initial phases of the pandemic, while it was done free of cost at government centres that faced a shortage of kits.
• The 75th National Sample Survey (NSS) reports that private hospitals charge about 7 times more than government hospitals.
  • But during the pandemic, they charged about 450 times more than the government hospitals.
• The Supreme Court then interfered in ensuring medical safety at minimum cost.
• Private hospitals, despite receiving benefits, like land at concessional rates, do not adhere to their social commitments.
• Also, the private hospitals were seen avoiding critical and risky cases which increased the burden on the public health infrastructure.
• The pharmaceutical companies also tried to take advantage of this situation by increasing the prices of their products manyfold.
  • Example: prices of masks, PPE kits and sanitisers during the initial phase.

Interventions by the Government

• The Government of India rejuvenated the public sector undertakings (PSUs) for the manufacturing of essential equipment.
• Armed forces and the related PSUs helped in improving capacity to combat COVID-19.
  • Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) designed bodysuits, ventilators, five-layer N99 masks with two layers of nanomesh, and sanitisers. 
  • Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) produced 30,000 ventilators for intensive care units across the county. 
  • Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) produced aerosol boxes and provided isolation ward facilities.
• The governments also used the infrastructural support of private hospitals.
  • In states like Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh, the government temporarily took over private hospitals to meet the infrastructural needs for COVID-19 patients.
• To enhance access to healthcare, the US government undertook various initiatives. 
  • Invoked the Defense Production Act of 1950.
  • The Department of Defense produced N95 masks and ventilators.
• The UK Government focused on strengthening the safety measures.
  • The Coronavirus Act, 2020 was passed to cover issues related to the pandemic. 
  • The government also took over private hospitals and hired doctors, nurses and private hospital beds.
• New Zealand was globally appreciated for its efforts to fight against COVID-19.
  • New Zealand announced a holistic package of $16.3 billion that included allocations to the healthcare sector, support for COVID-19 sick leave and self-isolation, income support for vulnerable sections, wage subsidies for businesses, etc.

Way forward

• The immediate measure to address the current challenges is to provide free testing and free vaccinations and encourage people to avail them.
• The governments should focus on incentivising vaccinations and testing and the incentives could be of two types: positive and negative. 
  • Positive incentives could be in the form of cash or kind. 
    • Example: the US has been offering pizza and Kazakhstan offering monetary incentives to encourage vaccination.
  • The negative incentives are in the form of denial of access to government benefits and services.
    • Example: Countries not allowing travellers without vaccination.
• Ramp up the production of vaccines and medicines to treat the disease.
• Fasten up the rate of vaccination to build herd immunity.
• All the countries across the world should have access to vaccines as any country left behind will be a threat to the entire world in terms of the re-emergence of the virus.
• The long-term strategy should be to bring in huge investments into public health infrastructure to tackle future public health emergencies as excessive dependence on the private sector has proven costly.
• There is a need for scaling up the domestic productions of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), as India imports nearly 70% of its requirements from China.

Conclusion

The robust measures to expand the capacity of public health institutions along with self-reliance in the field of healthcare will be the key in addressing such challenges in the future.

Read previous EPW articles in the link.

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