Implementation Gaps in India’s OSH code 2020: Balancing Social Security and Occupational Safety for Gig and Migrant Workers

The Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions, 2020 is a significant step towards consolidating India’s fragmented central labour laws by integrating 13 central labour laws into a single unified framework and ensuring occupational safety and welfare, especially for unorganised workers. However, despite its progress, the Code faces implementation gaps, particularly due to weak enforcement mechanisms and a shortage of labour inspectors. These gaps affect gig workers, platform workers, and migrant workers, who constitute a large workforce in India and remain largely outside the purview of formal regulatory protection. There is a lack of awareness among these workers regarding registration through the e-Shram Portal, which further exacerbates their vulnerability. Nearly 90% of India’s workforce is engaged in the informal sector, and this paper argues for the elimination of the wage ceiling in order to ensure inclusive coverage, the adoption of risk-based inspection, the provision of unemployment insurance coverage for emerging forms of employment, and the implementation of phased digital reforms through an Aadhaar-linked e-Shram Portal. The study emphasises the need to transform occupational safety into a cornerstone of labour governance, ensuring equitable protection for all categories of workers.