Comrade Rajaram Singh, Member of Parliament from CPIML representing Karakat, Bihar, has submitted a series of appeals to Shri Basavaraj Bommai, Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Labour, Textiles and Skill Development. In these letters, Rajaram Singh, who is a member of the committee has highlighted critical labour rights issues affecting millions of workers across the country, ranging from wage stagnation and retrenchments to systemic violations of labour laws and neglect of workers’ welfare.

Call for Revision of Minimum Wages

Rajaram Singh has drawn attention to the failure to revise the basic rates of minimum wages under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948. The last revision occurred in 2017, despite the law mandating a revision every five years. He stressed that rising living costs, including food, education, and healthcare, have left workers in dire straits, with stagnant wages pushing many into conditions akin to forced labour.

The primary intent of the Minimum ages Act, 1948, is to prevent "sweated" labour and to protect unorganised workers from exploitation. The Act operates on the principle that it is the duty of the State to ensure minimum wages are paid to employees, regardless of the financial capacity of the industry or establishment. Fixing the minimum wages is the primary obligation laid out in Article 43 of the Indian Constitution, henceforth ensuring a decent standard of life for all workers.

"The failure to revise minimum wages violates both statutory and constitutional obligations. Workers deserve justice and decent living standards," he said in a letter dated October 14, 2024.

Retrenchment of Safai Karamcharis and Exploitation

Another pressing issue is the alleged illegal termination of 61 Safai Karamcharis (Sanitation Workers) by the Centre for Airborne Studies (CABS), DRDO in Bengaluru on 23rd March, 2024. Most of these workers, from marginalised communities, were dismissed after reporting extortion by contractors who demanded a cut from their wages. The workers have since been protesting, demanding reinstatement and improved working conditions.

Terminated workers, with support from the Karnataka General Labour Union (AICCTU), approached the Karnataka Safai Karamchari Commission. Despite directives to reinstate them and investigate extortion claims, CABS-DRDO ignored the demands to take back workers and also refused to conduct any inquiry into the complaints of both actions.

Safai karamcharis endure exploitative conditions, performing tasks like cleaning, unclogging drains, and removing weeds under the hot sun without safety gear or proper tools. They must lift rotting garbage with bare hands and eat lunch on the floor, often interrupted for urgent work. These undignified conditions persist daily. It is under these undignified working conditions that the workers are forced to work. Despite performing essential work for years, workers were classified as contract workers to deny them rights.

He condemned the exploitative conditions faced by these workers, who perform hazardous tasks without adequate safety measures. "The management must be held accountable for victimising these workers instead of addressing their grievances," Comrade Rajaram Singh asserted.

In the letter, he also raised the issue of violation of basic rights of workers in Chabua Air Force Station in Dibrugarh, where wages are not paid in a timely manner, and minimum wages are not being paid to workers. They are not even provided social security, and are not provided ESI cards and Provident fund details, making it impossible for them to access these benefits.

Violation of Payment of Bonus Act

In a letter dated November 19, the MP also highlighted the plight of over 1,000 contractual workers at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and other institutions in Delhi. Despite repeated protests and legal mandates, these workers have been denied bonuses as per the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965. Mr Singh called for immediate intervention from the Ministry of Labour and Employment to ensure compliance with the law.

Comrade Rajaram called for immediate intervention from the Ministry of Labour and Employment in this regard to ensure that Payment of Bonus is implemented for all contractual workers in JNU and all other central government institutions in Delhi.

Concerns Over Jute Industry Crisis

In another letter, Comrade Rajaram expressed grave concerns about the crisis in the jute industry, which threatens the livelihoods of 2.5 lakh workers and 40 lakh farmers in eastern India, especially West Bengal. Declining demand for jute products, illegal imports from Bangladesh, and lack of timely procurement orders have left the industry operating at 40-50% capacity.

The owners of the jute mills of West Bengal have passed the buck of this crisis upon the workmen by drastically reducing shifts, running the mills for 4-5 days, rendering thousands of workers out of employment citing the issue of lack of Production cum Supply Orders (PCSO) issued by the Jute Commissioner Office (JCI).

He urged the government to implement stricter monitoring of mandatory jute packaging norms and increase support for farmers, including revising the Minimum Support Price (MSP) mechanism. Raw jute may be procured by JCI directly from the cultivators, number of direct purchasing centres to be increased substantially, and channelized to the jute mills according to their demands. He also noted that considering the abundance of raw jute during the current jute year, the existing norms of 20% for packaging of sugar may be revised to a greater extent.

Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) Scheme Under Scrutiny

In a separate letter on November 19, Comrade Rajaram criticised the Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) Scheme. The scheme does not actually guarantee that employers will recruit new workers or generate new jobs without retrenching existing workers or recycling workers from the pool of the educated unemployed. The scheme offers no direct benefit to the workers or employees themselves. It only draws from the government exchequer to subsidise certain statutory wage components.

He warned that the scheme could exacerbate job insecurity, promote exploitative internships, and fail to guarantee sustainable employment outcomes.

"The government must prioritise filling vacant posts in public services, enhancing MGNREGA, and addressing the agrarian crisis rather than allocating subsidies to private employers," he said. In this regard, he also drew attention to the detailed suggestions submitted by the Joint Platform of Central Trade Unions (JCTU).

Demand for Regularisation of Scheme Workers

Highlighting the contributions of nearly one crore scheme workers, including Anganwadi and ASHA workers, Comrade Rajaram emphasised the need for regularisation and social security benefits. These workers, lauded globally for their service during the COVID pandemic, continue to be denied basic rights.

Comrade Rajaram reiterated the charter of demands issued by AIl-India Scheme Workers Federation (AISWF):

1. All Scheme Workers should be given the status of government employees. In the interim period, they must be granted minimum wages as per the Central Government’s schedule.
2. All Scheme Workers should be given the status of “workers”, as recommended unanimously by previous (45th and 46th} Indian Labour Conferences (ILC).
3. They must be allotted fixed working hours, and comprehensive social security including pension.
4. Gender Cells must be set up to stop gender-based exploitation at the workplace.
5. Appropriate compensation should be paid to the families of Scheme Workers who lost lives during covid.

Privatisation of work under various government Schemes and the incorporation of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in Scheme work be stopped. The government must take full responsibility for Scheme work and for the rights of Scheme Workers.

He demanded that the union government must initiate immediate steps to regularise and ensure rights of scheme workers across the country.

On Indian Labour Conference (ILC) and Labour Codes

Comrade Rajaram raised concerns over the government’s prolonged delay in convening the Indian Labour Conference (ILC), which has not been held for nine years. The ILC, a tripartite body comprising representatives of workers, employers, and the government, last met in 2015.

The issue has gained prominence as major reforms in labour laws were carried out without consultation through the ILC. The working class, which is impacted by the labour codes were completely kept out of the discussions and consultation. The codification of 29 central labour laws into four Labour Codes, including the Code on Wages passed in 2019, bypassed the usual democratic practice of engaging the ILC.

Comrade Rajaram demanded an immediate announcement of the next ILC date. Furthermore, he also called for a moratorium on implementation of labour codes till the matter is discussed in ILC.