When Bengaluru, the Silicon Valley of India, flooded, we saw food delivery workers helping stranded individuals wade out of the knee-deep water in places like RMZ Ecospace on the Outer Ring Road.

However, what perplexed me was that many of these delivery partners were putting themselves in harm's way by delivering orders without raincoats or even helmets.

Swiggy, Zomato and the other food aggregators would argue that delivery workers are not their employees and hence, it’s the workers’ responsibility to invest in a helmet and adhere to road safety regulations.

But delivery startups take great pride in getting their delivery workers to use electric scooters, or even bicycles for that matter, for the cause of clean and sustainable mobility. Zomato has even partnered with such firms which can provide e-cycles to delivery executives. So if these companies are helping their delivery partners obtain electric scooters and bicycles, shouldn’t they also try to provide them with low-cost helmets that are light-weight but can also offer the requisite protection to the rider?

We’ve talked so much about road safety, about the need to wear seatbelts when in the rear seat of a car, after the death of an industrialist. But so many delivery executives lose their lives while on the job, because of the 10-minute delivery promise and their rush to earn bonuses and incentives. These companies often place delivery workers at the front and centre of their marketing campaigns. Shouldn’t they invest even a little bit of money in keeping them safe on their jobs?

Can no other corporate or C-suite executive, those who indulge in poverty porn and romanticise manual labour on social media, take up the task of providing helmets to deliver partners as their corporate social responsibility or CSR?

Zomato, Swiggy, Dunzo and Zepto, please take this necessary action so that it can benefit your diligent delivery executives.

Image credits: The Hindu