Food delivery economy is very important for India as it generates largescale employment: Nitin Gadkari
Reportedly Union minister Nitin Gadkari on tuesday underscored the vital role of India’s food delivery economy in driving large-scale employment opportunities. Speaking at Zomato’s ‘Sustainability and Inclusivity: Role of the Platform Economy’ conference, the Road Transport and Highways minister noted that india currently has 77 lakh delivery workers, a number projected to rise to 2.5 crore by 2030. Gadkari emphasised “Creating jobs for 2.5 crore youth is a major achievement for our country. job creation remains our highest priority".Meanwhile Gadkari applauded the online food delivery platform zomato for its efforts in providing job opportunities to unemployed youth across the country. He described this as a critical contribution toward addressing unemployment challenges. While praising the employment opportunities, Gadkari expressed concerns over road safety issues data-faced by delivery workers. He noted that the urgency of time-bound deliveries increases their risk of accidents.Moreover he said “India witnesses 45 road accidents and 20 deaths every hour, with most victims aged 18 to 45 years". He added that two wheeler accidents alone account for 80,000 deaths annually, with 55,000 fatalities caused by the non-usage of helmets. Gadkari stressed that road accidents can be significantly reduced through proper safety training. He congratulated zomato for training 50,000 drivers, calling it a commendable step toward improving road safety standards.