The 28th February Strike is having its impact on the Government. The Prime Minister who advised his government to file appeal against the decision of the Karnataka High Court which ordered that the state minimum wage should be paid to the NREGA workers in Karnataka, has been now compelled to change his views as can be seen from the following report. In this connection, I am reproducing a report in the press:

“The Union Government is expected to announce a policy decision soon on the vexed issue of employment of contract labour.

Mr G. Sanjeeva Reddy, the President of INTUC, told Business Line here on Friday that the Government might declare norms for ensuring equality in terms of payment to contract workers in the Budget announcement. He said currently the Cabinet Secretariat is looking into it.

“The Government has in principle accepted that when a contract labour does the same job as a permanent worker does in an establishment, the former cannot be discriminated against in terms of financial compensation,” Mr Reddy, who is also a Rajya Sabha member, said.

The apex court also expressed a similar view, he pointed out.

The Government has already prepared a study on contract labour – engaged both in private and public sector organisations.

“The Government is figuring out the cost to the economy if such pay parity is introduced across the country. I have reasons to believe that certain positive steps towards the contract labour issue are in the offing,” he affirmed.

The labour unions continue to view the system of contract labour as exploitative.

“We want a gradual abolition of this system. As a first step we want parity on financial compensation. We also feel the need for a joint negotiating forum of the employers and the workers. The Government also should fix ceiling in percentage terms of employment of contract labour in an organisation,” Mr Reddy said.

For providing legislative protection to this category of workers, whose conditions were found to be abysmal, the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act was enacted in 1970.

Consequently, the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Central Rules, 1971 came into force.

However, the constitutional validity of the Act and the rules were challenged before the Supreme Court in the Gammon India Ltd. Vs. Union of India case. But the Supreme Court upheld the validity of the Act and the Rules in 1974.”