The exploitation of migrant construction workers has grown alongside the expansion of the industry. It's time the government got serious about upholding the law.
A recent report in The Hindu on the violation of labour laws at a massive construction site belonging to the Army Welfare Housing Organisation in Bangalore raises yet again the repeated neglect of regulations relating to the employment and welfare of workers by construction companies in India.
For those who missed the story, the company concerned was found paying migrant workers Rs.50 per week as wages, as against the promised Rs.157 per day. This openly flouted the provisions of the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act (1979), the Building and Other Construction Workers' Act and the Minimum Wages Act (1948). This shocking story of exploitation in India's IT capital became public only when a handful of workers from Chhattisgarh managed to escape from the work site and were put in touch with a labour union which in turn produced the emaciated and frightened workers before the media for their testimony.
Violations
The contract in this case had been awarded to a company, B.L. Kashyap and Sons Ltd., that had only a year ago (July 29, 2011) been found guilty of evasion of Provident Fund payments to workers by the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) of India. A fine of Rs.593 crore was levied on the company after confirmation of forgery by the Central Finger Print Bureau of the National Crime Records Bureau. Interestingly, following the order, the Builders Association and 26 other establishments filed a case in the Delhi High Court against the EPFO, challenging their obligations regarding payment of Provident Fund to casual workers employed at construction sites. The case is currently on.
Rights under the law
Construction workers in India are guaranteed certain forms of protection and rights under a broad canvas of labour laws. These include the right to minimum wages, overtime payments, weekly offs, specific allowances in case of migrant workers, housing and other social security benefits. As employers, construction companies are legally responsible for providing protection to workers. In reality, the compulsions on them to follow the rules are far and few. Under existing labour laws, the penalties imposed for the non-execution of responsibilities like maintenance of proper muster roll, non-payment of minimum wages, etc. are relatively miniscule — ranging between Rs.500-Rs.2,000 — and not much of a deterrent for erring companies. Given this, the attempts made by the EPFO to rely on forensic sciences to determine the extent of criminal misdeed, are indeed commendable.
Constituting an important segment of the overall services industry (seven per cent of total GDP), and recording an annual growth of over 10 per cent over the last five years, the construction industry is one of the biggest employers of labour in India. According to the Planning Commission's XI-Plan document, employment in the construction sector in India has witnessed a steady increase from 14.6 million in 1995 to nearly 31.5 million in 2005. It is interesting to note that while the share of skilled professionals in the business has gone down from 15.3 per cent in 1995 to 10.5 per cent in 2005, the relative proportion of unskilled personnel has registered a significant increase from 73 per cent in 1995 to 82.4 per cent in 2005. For an industry growing rapidly, with a high dependence on unskilled manpower, it is paradoxical that both the government and the industry have not yet shown any inclination of devising a foolproof system that places sufficient checks on the way the construction industry regulates or conducts itself. This aspect of neglect is most visible in the way government agencies have handled issues concerning the welfare of workers, especially migrants in the construction industry.
Migrant workers
Under the provisions of this Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act (1979), which was explicitly enacted to prevent migrant workers from being exploited, labour contractors are required to obtain a licence from the government concerned authorising them to recruit and employ migrant labour from one State to another. Legally, any establishment employing more than five inter-State migrant workmen is required to register under the provisions of the Act. However, while the vast majority of those employed in construction activities constitute migrants, this Act is rarely invoked. The national level data provided in the 23rd Report of the Standing Committee on Labour (December 2011) shows the number of licensed contractors or registered establishments as exceptionally low. From data gathered from 22 States, only 285 licensed contractors and 240 registered establishments were recorded as employing migrant labour. For a country of the size of India, this is definitely an under-reported statistic.
Migrant workers in general constitute a vulnerable social category. With little capacity to bargain for their constitutional rights as workers, they are forced to work and live under conditions that are practically subhuman. Makeshift tents housing migrant families are a common sight in almost all big cities.
During the course of a Public Interest Litigation filed by the People's Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) in January 2010, on the violation of workers' rights at the Commonwealth Games construction sites, a Delhi High Court-appointed Monitoring Committee submitted a report which documented the almost abysmal conditions in which the workers were forced to work and live at various sites. Long working hours with no extra payments for overtime and non-payment of minimum wages were widely reported. In the course of the hearings, approximately 140 deaths of workers at construction sites were reported. Yet, government agencies turned a blind eye. Even the Shunglu committee that was constituted to look into allegations of corruption, failed to include the case of labour law violations despite repeated requests within its larger mandate of looking at the financial improprieties conducted in the course of the Commonwealth Games.
The contractor
The construction industry — even in its globalised avatar — relies on archaic systems of operation, such as the use of contractors for the supply of labour. The Contractor Raj, if one may call it, was a prevalent feature of the colonial mode of labour recruitment and production. The Royal Commission on Labour in 1929 actually recommended the abolition of the institution of the contractor. In 1970, India passed the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act. However, this institution not only continues, but has actually deepened with the boom in the construction industry as contractors and sub-contractors are employed even in small projects. This multiple chain of operations creates its own problems of regulation. While there is little doubt that globalisation has contributed to increased business opportunities for the construction industry, things have not improved for the workers, who constitute the life and soul of the industry. The Bangalore episode has once again shown the extent of exploitation that still exists.
Getting construction companies to follow the law of the land regarding fulfilment of basic rights related to employment, safety and welfare of workers still seems a distant dream. The government, despite repeated reminders, seems to be looking away.
(Moushumi Basu is an Associate Professor at the School of International Studies, JNU, and member of PUDR.)
Keywords: migrant construction workers, labour issues
How does this compare with the President of India taking the whole family abroad on an OFFICIAL TRIP?Shame.
Great Article. In india the political class as well as bureucrats are neither having the will-power nor have any kind of vision to take the india forwards. These all are business minded people, who simply work for money and not for the country. Whenever any such case comes into the picture, everywhere there seems to be huge outcry and after sometimes, everything stops as nothing happens. this is happening everyday and in every corner of india but still no stringent action against these rich builders???
My question is who is responsible???
They should be provided with protective kits like glouses gumboots
helmets etc invariably and free of cost;and also washing and cleaning
agents as thesethings are a must.
This is really shameful to exploit hard working people, 50 rs a week thats not even a dollor for an entire week, people in africa makes more than that. The Hindu needs to appreciated for thier effort to highlight the issue, hope the authorities wake up and do justice, which I higly doubt.
Though this is biggest industry in India no body cares for laws to
regulate builders.....every govt has got their own way to make money
from them.....these people build clubhouses in high-end apartments with
compulsory membership to buyer of flats...but they manage the clubhouse
by allowing outsiders also.....when why a buyer should compulsorily
contribute for clubhouse????when he does not get any concession etc.
live examples are available in Bangalore
Rights of workers of the construction industry must be upheld by the
government.
Pl have a look in to chennai metro rail project area here child labour's also working equalent work to adult labourers.Most of the workers/People are from other states.Because of livlihood there are working for very less wages.
PS:Will govt look into this area.
The builders license should be cancelled straight away. How can a person
survive with 50 rupees a week? I cant even imagine. When Govt itself
says a minimum of 32 rupees(??) is required.
Great Article highlighting the predicament of millions of migrant
construction workers. Since construction is flourishing at a rapid
rate and construction industry is one of the biggest employers of
labors there should be a mass campaign to aware every labor or
employer at construction of their rights. Since many contractors play
very shrewish for maximum profits by hiring most of the labors from
rural areas which are ignorant of their rites according to certain
clauses and end up earning a very paltry sum.It is disheartening to
see iniquities being imparted on labors who work so hard regardless of
soaring temperature or rain for their earnings and still get deprived
of their rightful money by long margins. Strong and harsher punishment
should be their for the one's does not oblige to the clauses according
to the Employees' Provident Fund organisation.
Leaders of the movement for India's freedom from British colonial rule
protested against the treatment meted out to indentured laborers in
sugar plantations in Fiji, Trinidad and Tobago,and so on. Trade unions
in India mobilized workers in the country for supporting leaders of the
Indian National Congress for achieving national liberation from colonial
rule. What are the trade unions and political parties doing now for a
stop to exploitation of laborers from Bihar, Nepal etc.in other parts of
India? They themselves should get organised,articulate their
grievances, and safeguard their interests.
this is just another example of capitalistic expansion in socialist India, nothing can be worse than hearing that poor tribes are forced to migrate to cities and then pushed to further destitution and exploitation. G O I can celebrate it growing GDP, it mega cities and these landmarks of prosperity but the truth behind this is always unheard and untold, labour class in this country is no class rather an underclass, which is voiceless, speechless and victim of aggression of exploitative bourgeois who have the backing of this state. If this is what shining India means I rather stay in dark to save my brothers and sisters from this exploitation and destitution.
Right under our collective nose, this is an ongoing atrocity that goes unchecked. There is perhaps not a single private builder that has not exploited workers at some point or the other. There are enormous profits to be made in the construction industry and with most of India's infrastructure yet to be built, one is ashamed to say this is dependent on poor people who have no choice but to accept this shameful exploitation.
Malpractices and cheating employees of a decent wage is a common theme world over. Unless there is a whistle blower system alerting a governmental body to act upon the practice would continue. Such a body needs to have investigative resources and authority to prosecute. There has to be serious financial penalty for such activities. This is the modern day neo-slavary and has to be eradicated without mercy. Inadequate protective clothes and safety equipment is another area of concern and has to be addressed in the similar manner.
I appreciate sincere efforts by Author to bring out poor immigrant labor grievance on the eve of Labors Day... in our Country whether Skilled labor or IT wage earner labor law is so weak or low enforcement. There is huge labor welfare yardstick between Govt and non Govt organization. If you consider in organized sector like Banks, State Govt , Central Govt , Railways their employee Benefits and welfare scheme is quite more than Employee's delivery. But in the unorganized sector labor they even cannot know what is their Agreed Contract terms even. we claim that we are Democratic country, but in reality there various Band of Parasite activity among the bureaucracy or in system. There is not serious municipal measure in work environment, Health audit or safety regulation. on the question of implementation of any enforcement in instant manner they come with argument huge operational expense, administrative difficulty, but in Reality we don’t have Governance and commitment.
Talk about undocumented migrant workers causing issue in other States...and the Police are quick to pounce on them and silence civil liberties in the name of tackling crime.Now, will the same Police offer protection to these exploited migrant workers from the clutches of building mafias? Will their basic pay or needs be met as per laws of the land?
Why such disparity in life and why does protection always favour the ones with money? This is the mirage of democracy across the world.
Thanks to the author for highlighting this important issues. Hope the author also forwards it to relevant authorities and sufficient media coverage is given to this. One very apparent unjust treatment is - lack of vacation/sick-leave. I remember reading/hearing that they have to keep working everyday else will lose payment for the day. Whereas people who work in posh luxurious offices, with little scope for physical discomfort, are eligible for generous medical leave (which can be availed without actual illness), here are our fellow men who are the most vulnerable to physical harm and yet cannot take a break with pay. Not to forget the deplorable conditions they work in, with often no toilets or decent shelters to stay under - one would also recollect the condition of the babies when their mother is away at work - no decent childcare is provided. These people toil year long, deliver the apartment/office and continue on their homeless existence all over again.
Very sad & shameful.
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