App-Based Delivery Men Highlight India’s Growing Gig Economy
Suraj Nachre works long hours and regularly misses meals but he treasures his job as a driver for a food delivery startup -- working in a booming industry that highlights India's expanding apps-based gig-economy. The 26-year-old is one of hundreds of thousands of young Indians who, armed with their smartphones and motorcycles, courier dinners to offices and homes ordered at the swipe of a finger. A surge in the popularity of food-ordering apps like Uber Eats and Swiggy provides a welcome source of income for many as India's unemployment rate sits at a reported 45-year high. But they also shine a spotlight on the prevalence of short-term contracts in the economy, raising questions about workers' rights and conditions and the long-term viability of the jobs. "(These delivery workers) are treated…