The Bofors issue today led to disruption in Lok Sabha with the BJP and Left parties demanding reopening of the graft case and a judicial probe into it.     BJP members trooped into the Well following heated exchanges with Congress members, forcing Speaker Meira Kumar to adjourn the House for over 90-minutes.     Raising the issue during Zero Hour, senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh said though “the correct weapon was acquired, it was acquired in a wrong manner …. You (Congress) have paid, we have paid. The nation continues to pay”.     “Till you don’t remove this thorn, the poison will continue to spread. … Whatever is happening in the defence sector today is because of this episode. It is a saga of continuing corruption. In matters of corruption, there is no closure,” he said, demanding setting up of a judicial commission to probe the issue.     CPI(M) leader Basudeb Acharia demanded reopening of the Bofors pay-offs case, institution of an independent inquiry and extradition of Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi.     Admitting that the NDA had failed to get Quattrocchi extradited after his arrest in Malaysia, Singh said, “Many will say why did you not do it. You have failed, we have failed. But don’t consider our failure as your success.”     Observing that it gave him “no delight” to raise this issue, he said, “25 years have passed but the storm of Bofors refuses to subside and the guns continue to blaze.”     Without naming Rajiv Gandhi, the BJP leader said, “The absence of the late Prime Minister is felt. A promising leader was taken away from our polity.”     The reason behind Congress being reduced from its “historic” victory of 404 seats in Lok Sabha in 1984 to 114 in the next elections was Bofors pay-offs deal, he said. UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi were present in the House when the Opposition members raised the issue. The Lok Sabha had earlier seen brief disruption on the issue during Question Hour.     Singh posed a series of questions on the matter and asked why the Indian investigating teams which went to Sweden did not meet their Swedish counterparts probing the matter.     He claimed that Quattrocchi was “permitted through government connivance to escape from Delhi”.     He sought to know why “political” donations were paid to the account of AE Services, a company owned by the Italian businessman. “How can it (donations) be political in nature when it went to a businessman. We all know he worked for Snam Progetti and what happened in it. We must know what his political purpose was,” he said.     The BJP leader asked why the Red Corner notice against Quattrocchi was withdrawn and why an “inept and incapable” team was sent to Brazil which failed to bring him back.     Singh alleged that Quattrocchi had moved money from his London account and demanded that the account details be obtained the government. He termed as false the government statements that there were no cases against him, which led to defreezing of his accounts.     Basudeb Acharia (CPI-M) asked what was the “interest” in not allowing a proper enquiry and his extradition. “What was the cover-up, who protected Quattrocchi, what interest did he have … The Bofors scandal is not a closed chapter … we will continue to raise this issue” till the persons responsible were brought to book.     (Courtsey: Ganashakti)

In a land-mark judgment, the Delhi High Court has upheld the position that widow/family of casual worker, who dies while on work, is eligible for compensation as Workman’s Compensation Act’(WCA).

The employer had challenged the order of the Commissioner of WCA stating that the worker was not his employee and he had been engaged by a contractor for repair work.

Upholding the Commissioner’s order, High Court stated that even if a worker is engaged by the contractor for work in the premises of a third party, the latter would be considered as Principal Employer, not the contractor, and the worker would be qualified to be his workman.

The widow was granted Rs. 2.63 lakh as compensation in this case.

The High Court judgment is a clear reply to the BSNL management who takes the stand that it is not the Principal Employer of the worker engaged by the contractor.

 The 20th Congress of the CPI(M) expresses its deep concern and strongly protests against the increasing contractorisation of workers in various sectors of the economy which has resulted in a manifold increase in the exploitation of workers, by keeping wage costs down and denying workers their minimum rights.

 Shamefully, it is the central and many state governments in pursuit of neo-liberal policies which have taken the lead in imposing contractorisation of the workforce. In the name of making industries competitive and attracting investments, the central government has permitted the gross violation of the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act 1970 by the private and public sector.  The Act prohibits employment of contract workers in jobs of a perennial nature, but in practice this is what is happening and has become wide spread, not only in the manufacturing and service sectors but also in government services. In the unorganised sector, the practice is rampant.

In public sector units, the contractor workers share in the total workforce is more than 50 per cent and in the private sector it is more than 80 per cent. As per a recent survey by a government organisation, there are more than 3.6 crores of contract workers under licensed contractors. Keeping in view the mushrooming growth of unlicensed contractors, the total number of contract workers will be more than 5 crores.

Contract workers are denied even the legal minimum wages and other statutory social security benefits like ESI, PF.  While contract workers are deployed along with regular workers in regular activities of the establishment, their wages are always paltry. In some cases, the contract worker gets one-tenth of the wages of a regular worker, for doing similar work.

The majority of these workers are denied the right to organise. The immediate threat of losing their jobs and income if they unionise, ensures that they remain vulnerable to intense exploitation. In particular women contract workers often become victims to harassment and sexual abuse.

Trade unions in the country have been demanding amendments to the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act to ensure regularisation of contract workers in perennial nature of jobs, and to end the collusion of employers and enforcement authorities, so as to ensure proper implementation of the law.  Pending the legal changes required, trade unions have demanded that contract workers should be paid wages equal to that of a regular worker with other social security benefits so as to end the cruel exploitation prevalent now.

The 20th Congress of the CPI(M)  extends full support to the struggles of contract workers and trade unions on their just demands of ending this exploitative contractor system in regular jobs.  The fight against capitalism in its neo-liberal phase requires an understanding of how the widespread nature of the contract worker system is functioning as an instrument to intensify the exploitation of labour and further push down the subsistence wage to maximise profits.

As a party of the working class, the CPI(M) calls upon its units to launch a widespread campaign against contractualisation of the labour force as part of the party’s political platform and to help to mobilise contract workers for their rights and for justice.