Which state became the first in India to legislate rights for platform-based gig workers?
Correct answer: (B) Rajasthan.
Rajasthan became the first Indian state to legislate rights and welfare protections for platform-based gig workers through the Rajasthan Platform Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Act, 2023.
Explanation
Rajasthan is the answer because the July 2023 law made it the first state in India to give a statutory framework to platform-based gig workers. The verified source described the Rajasthan Platform Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Bill, 2023 as the country's first such measure and said it sought to guarantee social security to gig workers. It also records the core design: a Rajasthan Platform Based Gig Workers Welfare Board for registration of workers and aggregators, a welfare fee deduction mechanism linked to aggregator apps, and a unique ID for gig workers across platforms. That matches the exam explanation that Rajasthan passed the Act in July 2023, while Karnataka came later as the second state in 2025.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Delhi is not the answer because the cited report identifies Rajasthan's 2023 gig workers bill as the country's first such measure.
- (C) Karnataka cannot be the first because the supplied explanation places it later, as the second state in 2025.
- (D) Maharashtra is ruled out because neither the provided explanation nor the verified citation identifies it as the state behind the first such gig-worker legislation.
Concept
This tests recent Rajasthan legislation under the welfare and administrative system part of the RAS syllabus. It recurs because RAS often asks first-in-India state initiatives where Rajasthan's governance model becomes the identifying clue.