For delivery riders who spend the whole day circling the city on their bikes, Patna has rolled out a welcome bit of relief. The Urban Development and Housing Department has built two modern, air-conditioned lounges in the state capital where gig workers can pause and rest during their shifts. The lounges offer mobile charging, cold drinking water, comfortable seating and other everyday essentials. The aim is simple, to give workers who spend their days out on the roads a dependable place to stop, cool off and recover.
Both lounges have been built near Gate Number 4 of Gandhi Maidan and close to Aaykar Golambar. Departmental Minister Nitish Mishra inspected the facilities today and spoke with the gig workers present, taking the chance to understand the problems and needs they face on the job.
Patna Becomes the Third City in the Country
With this move, Patna becomes the third city in India to offer such a facility for gig workers. Until now, only Chennai and Coimbatore had something similar. The lounges have been developed specifically with delivery partners tied to Swiggy, Zomato and other digital platforms in mind. Workers who ride from one neighbourhood to another delivering orders now have a safe and convenient place to take a break mid-shift.
What the Lounges Offer
Inside, there is comfortable seating along with clean drinking water, mobile charging points, a tidy environment and other amenities meant for resting. On top of that, the lounges have air conditioning, CCTV monitoring, 24-hour security guards and regular cleaning. That means real respite for gig workers whether the weather brings scorching heat, rain or anything else.
Each lounge can seat and accommodate around 15 people at a time, which is expected to benefit a large number of delivery workers. The resting room has about seven charging points so riders can top up their phones easily, two air conditioners to keep the whole space cool, and CCTV cameras keeping constant watch for safety.
Two-Rupee Entry, No Time Limit on Resting
The charge for using these facilities has been kept extremely modest. Anyone can enter the lounge by paying just two rupees. The best part is that there is no time limit on resting or charging a phone, so visitors can stay as long as they like.
Both lounges are run by Patna Smart City Limited and each cost roughly 16 lakh rupees to build. They were inaugurated earlier, on 19 June, by Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary.
