New Delhi: A year after Chennai and Coimbatore, Patna is now opening two air-conditioned rest pods for gig workers across the city working for Zomato, Swiggy, Blinkit and the rest.
Under Patna Smart City Limited, two rest pods have been set up: one at the iconic Gandhi Maidan and another at Income Tax Golambar, one of the city’s busiest routes.
Bihar’s Urban Development and Housing Department minister Nitish Mishra said that gig workers are the “lifelines” of their cities and hence making adequate arrangements for their rest is “absolutely essential.”
“I felt that gig and delivery workers—who serve as the lifelines of our cities—deliver essential services to citizens day and night, braving scorching sun, intense heat, rain, cold, and harsh conditions,” Mishra said.
These rest pods will provide facilities such as air-conditioned rest areas, drinking water, mobile charging facilities.
For now, two rest pods are under construction. Mishra said based on the experience gained from these pods and feedback from gig workers, the facility will be expanded to other locations in the city.
Free service, big relief
The Samrat Chaudhary government also plans to provide subsidised food through the Jeevika Didi program at these rest stations.
“We are planning to provide butter milk, Aam Panna and Lassi at affordable rates to gig workers,” said an official at Patna Smart City Limited, who is aware of this development.
He said at each station, 15 workers can sit without any cost and it will be open from June 15.
“This initiative is a symbol of our sensitivity and respect for the dedicated workers who keep the city moving every day,” said Mishra.
Gig workers in the city see this initiative as a big relief.
“In the scorching heat, providing services to people is very difficult for us. We managed to rest beneath trees. Now, we heard about the air-conditioned rest pods. It will be a relief for all gig workers like me,” said Santosh Kumar, a Patna-based gig worker.
The Modi government is also pushing all digital platform aggregators such as Swiggy, Zomato, Uber, Blinkit, Ola, Rapido to upload details of their gig workers at eShram portal by 21 June.
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Expanding across cities
India’s rest pods and lounges for gig workers are a rapidly expanding initiative. Chennai pioneered the country’s first air-conditioned lounges for gig workers in Anna Nagar and KK Nagar last year. It was established by the Greater Chennai Corporation.
Then, two lounges at RS Puram and Gandhipuram Town Bus Stand were established in Coimbatore in 2025.
In April this year, the Delhi government directed officials to establish rest pods for gig workers in the capital after Chief Minister Rekha Gupta’s announcement during the 35th board meeting of the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB where she interacted with gig workers.
Even e-commerce giant Amazon launched mobile rest vans for delivery agents called Amazon Ashray under Project Ashray. These vans are stationed at high-footfall locations.
(Edited by Stela Dey)