Dedicated Pragati Centres will be established in Hyderabad after the state government and an online grocery delivery platform signed a Memorandum of Understanding to provide gig and platform workers with places to rest and access essential facilities during the working day.
The centres are intended to serve workers across delivery platforms, including quick commerce, food delivery, e-commerce, apparel and other last-mile delivery networks. The initiative is designed to address gaps in basic urban infrastructure for workers who spend much of their working day travelling through the city.
The announcement comes against the backdrop of limited access to sanitation and shaded rest spaces among gig workers in Hyderabad. Findings from a 2024 HeatWatch survey of 166 gig and platform workers found that nearly 69 per cent did not have access to clean washrooms. More than 80 per cent reported having no shaded resting areas or cooling facilities while working.
The planned Pragati Centres will be open to gig workers irrespective of the platform or company they work for. The arrangement therefore covers workers operating across different delivery networks rather than limiting access to employees or delivery partners of the company that signed the agreement.
Jayesh Ranjan, special chief secretary for metropolitan area and urban development for HMDA limits, said gig and platform workers had become an increasingly important part of Hyderabad’s urban economy. “Project Pragati will create accessible spaces that address some of these practical requirements and are available to workers irrespective of the platform they are associated with,” he said.
The MoU places worker facilities within the city’s wider urban infrastructure conversation. Delivery workers routinely move between neighbourhoods and commercial areas while completing orders, but the announcement identifies basic amenities such as washrooms, shaded areas and cooling spaces as requirements that have not been consistently available to them during working hours.
The state government and the delivery platform did not provide in the reported announcement a detailed rollout schedule, the number of centres to be established, their locations or the facilities to be included at each site. These details will determine the eventual reach of the initiative across Hyderabad and the number of workers able to use the centres.
The next steps are the establishment of the Pragati Centres under the agreement, with access intended for gig workers from multiple sectors and platforms across the city.
