A Delhi-based company has sparked a social media debate with its business model of providing “shopping assistance service”. CarryMen is a startup through which people can book an assistant for as little as 30 minutes to perform tasks like holding their shopping bags or standing in a queue for them.A picture of a shopping assistant holding a woman's bags sparked a debate online“We help customers carry shopping bags, move comfortably through busy areas, and focus on their shopping without physical strain,” the company says on its website. “Our goal is to make shopping a more comfortable and stress-free experience by providing trained, supervised, and reliable shopping assistants directly inside markets.”On the website, CarryMen lists several ‘Shopping Assistance Packages’ — starting with 30 minutes and going up till 4 hours. Booking an assistant for 30 minutes will cost one ₹149 (although an ongoing discount has brought the price down to ₹79).“Our assistant will handle your bags and accompany you safely till the parking area or metro gate,” reads the description under the 30 minute package. The service is currently available in Lajpat Nagar, Delhi.CarryMen’s business model sparks debateA picture of a CarryMen assistant carrying a woman’s shopping bags in the national capital was shared on social media last week, where it sparked a debate around class, caste, and the ethics of using such services.The post was shared with the caption: “In Lajpat, you can now pay ₹149/hr for someone to carry your bags, wait in food queues, walk you to the metro, find you a place to sit, and even set up a foldable chair. Interesting biz!”As it gained traction, the post sparked a debate on how appropriate it is to book a shopping assistant and whether it can be classed under exploitation of the underprivileged.HindustanTimes.com has reached out to CarryMen for a statement. This copy will be updated on receiving a response.“The theatre of the privileged: can’t cook, can’t clean, can’t manage kids, can’t drive, can’t walk the dog… and now apparently can’t carry shopping bags either. The availability of cheap labor in India has created an entire class of adults without basic life skills,” wrote X user @samjawed65.“The gig economy keeps churning out the same idea in different fonts. It's all about exploiting the youth, making them do unproductive labor, while capitalizing on the average privileged class's desire to feel like a colonial master,” another person wrote.“The fact that this job exists is just such a telling comment on the Indian economy and how the demographic dividend has been squandered,” Anant Sudarshan, a professor at the Department of Economics at the University of Warwick.There were also many who praised the business idea, saying it would help the elderly and those with disabilities.