Telangana signs MoU with Zepto to establish resting spaces for gig workers in Hyderabad

The Telangana Government and quick-commerce company Zepto have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish five Project PRAGATI Centres across Hyderabad to provide basic facilities to gig and platform workers.

The centres will offer dedicated spaces for workers from quick commerce, food delivery, e-commerce, apparel and other last-mile delivery networks to rest during their working day. The initiative comes against the backdrop of gaps in basic urban infrastructure faced by workers who spend much of their working hours on the road.

A 2024 HeatWatch survey of 166 gig and platform workers in the city found that nearly 69% of those surveyed did not have access to clean washrooms, while more than 80% lacked shaded resting areas or cooling facilities while working.

Facilities at the centres

Each PRAGATI Centre will provide all-weather resting space, drinking water, washroom facilities, first-aid support, mobile charging points and Wi-Fi connectivity. Periodic health camps will also be conducted at the centres, besides facilitating awareness about e-Shram registration for eligible gig and unorganised workers.

Zepto will fund and maintain the centres on an ongoing basis. The locations will be jointly identified by the government and Zepto, with each centre expected to receive hundreds of worker visits depending on its location.

Special Chief Secretary to the Government, Metropolitan Area & Urban Development Department, Jayesh Ranjan, after exchanging the MoU, said gig and platform workers are an increasingly important part of Hyderabad’s urban economy and that the city needed to respond to their everyday infrastructure requirements.

Zepto chief operating officer Vikas Sharma said the company was extending the facilities already available to its delivery partners across its store network, to gig workers across platforms, through Project PRAGATI.