After Ola row, Kunal Kamra asks Blinkit CEO to reveal wages of delivery partners
Mumbai: After a verbal spat with Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal over customer complaints and faulty deliveries, comedian Kunal Kamra began 2025 by shedding light on the exploitation of gig workers in the quick commerce sector.
Blinkit CEO, Albinder Dhindsa, posted live updates on X about the most-ordered items on the platform. He wrote: “1,22,356 packs of condoms, 45,531 bottles of mineral water, 22,322 Partysmart, 2,434 Eno..are enroute right now! Prep for party?”
Kamra responded by questioning the wages of Blinkit’s delivery partners. “Can you also enlighten us with data on the average wages you paid your ‘Delivery Partners’ in 2024?” he asked Dhindsa, putting “delivery partners” in quotes, a reference to the fact that companies often avoid labeling delivery workers as employees, instead designating them as “partners.”
In a follow-up post, Kunal Kamra elaborated on the dark side of quick commerce, noting that platform owners exploit gig workers. “While we enjoy the convenience of quick commerce I’d like my first tweet of 2025 to be about the dark side,” he wrote.
“Platform owners exploit gig workers and they aren’t job creators. They are landlords without owning any land. They don’t have a bone of creativity or innovation all they do is exploit people by offering them freedom that they can’t afford while giving them wages that can’t meet their aspirations,” he added.
Kamra further criticised the business model, comparing platform owners to “thugs” who use "data as oil without paying for the oil fields." He added that someday there will be regulation that humbles them.
Other social media users echoed Kamra’s concerns, pointing out the lack of creativity and exploitation in the industry. One user commented, “Blinkit, Zepto, Zomato, Swiggy. All of them. Zero creativity- only exploitation. The delivery workers are stretched to a great extent for compensation that is not justified at all. 10 mins delivery isn’t a landmark thing tbh. It’s sheer exploitation of humanity to satisfy the ego & whims of the buyer.”
Can you also enlighten us with data on the average wages you paid your “Delivery Partners” in 2024… https://t.co/v0yBlvobCQ
— Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) December 31, 2024
While we enjoy the convenience of quick commerce I’d like my first tweet of 2025 to be about the dark side.
— Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) December 31, 2024
Platform owners exploit gig workers & they aren’t job creators.
They are landlords without owning any land.
They don’t have a bone of creativity or innovation all…
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Bihar: Over 150 children fall ill after consuming 'mid-day meal' in Saharsa
Saharsa (PTI): More than 150 children were taken ill after allegedly consuming food that was part of the mid-day meal in a school in Bihar’s Saharsa district, a senior official said on Thursday.
The incident occurred at a middle school in Baluaha village of the district.
The official said that 115 children were undergoing treatment at the Sadar Hospital, while around 50 students were admitted to Mahishi Public Health Centre.
“We received information that several children fell ill after consuming the mid-day meal in Baluaha. The children were initially treated at the primary health centre, but later, many were referred to the Sadar Hospital,” Saharsa District Magistrate Deepesh Kumar told reporters.
“According to doctors, the health condition of the children has improved, but they will be kept under observation for some time. There is no need to panic. Some kids are having mild fever. They are being treated accordingly,” Kumar said.
Meanwhile, family members of some children claimed that a snake was found in the container in which cooked pulses was stored at the school.
Of the 545 students present in the school, 200 had already eaten their meals by the time the snake was spotted, and later complained of stomach ache and vomiting, they said.
Regarding the claims, the DM said food samples have been collected from the school.
“We will be able to comment on this only after the results of the tested samples arrive,” he said.
