The Supreme Court on Friday expressed shock at the revelation that labourers at the Food Corporation of India (FCI) earned a whopping Rs. 4.5 lakh as monthly wages, considerably more than the salary of the President of India.
A Bench led by Chief Justice T.S. Thakur said the revelation was an example of the “malpractices” in the FCI system. The Bench was hearing an appeal filed by the FCI Workers’ Union against a series of directions passed by the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court on the basis of a scathing report on the FCI by a High Level Committee headed by senior BJP leader Shanta Kumar.
The Bench, while refusing to intervene in the High Court decision, said there had been “Rs.1,800 crore of loss per year” to the FCI where departmental labourers engaged proxy workers.
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“How can a labourer carrying sacks earn Rs. 4.5 lakh per month? You (departmental labourers) are today earning wages more than that of the President of India,” the Bench observed.
Dismissing claims that the money came in the form of incentives, the court asked “what are the incentive schemes? There is an allegation of proxy labour”.
It said there was something “seriously wrong” within the corporation and either the government should act or the apex court would be compelled to constitute a committee led by a retired judge to probe and fix liability.
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