As someone who has worked in the steel industry for nearly four decades, I can say with confidence that contract labourers invariably get the wrong end of the stick.
I remember that in 1994, Rourkela steel plant regularised the services of nearly 4,000 contract labourers, pursuant to a Supreme Court order. At that time, I thought this verdict would be a trendsetter Nothing of the sort has happened. The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act expressly prohibits the engagement of contract labour in certain kinds of jobs. Yet, this is being done with impunity by corporates, who find it easy to neutralise the state, and earn more profits and share a part of the profits with the state itself!
That 90% of India’s labour force is in the informal sector is a sad commentary on the state of affairs in the country (Op-Ed page, “The neglected foot soldiers of a liberalised economy,” Dec. 5).
A.R. Ramanarayanan,
Chennai
