THE Modi government has consistently attempted to undermine and cripple tripartite bodies established under various labour laws. Specifically, it has not convened the Indian Labour Conference (ILC) for the past 11 years, and it has either avoided holding consultative meetings or, when meetings are held, excluded certain central trade unions. Furthermore, the government is attempting to cripple tripartite boards created under labour laws such as the Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act.

The government has reconstituted the Central Advisory Contract Labour Board (CACLB) under the Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970, after a lapse of over 1.5 years, due to persistent pressure from central trade unions. This move comes as the government implements the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, which subsumes and repeals the CLRA Act, potentially replacing specific boards like CACLB with an omnibus board.

The reconstituted Board is not yet provided an office to function and the non- official members are not provided validation cards to visit the ministry and are not paid their travelling bills as per the statute for attending the committee works and meetings.

The first meeting of the Board was called in May 2024 after five months of reconstitution due to compulsion of contempt petitions against the government and Board in the Madras and Calcutta High Courts and the direction of the High Court of Chandigarh.

UNWILLING TO UNDO DISCRIMINATION

The Kolkata High Court contempt case arose from the failure of government and Board to perform their statutory role as directed by the court in a 2013 petition filed by Nethaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport Ground Workmen's Union (affiliated to CITU). The court directed the government to address discrimination among trolley retrievers in Kolkata, Delhi, and Mumbai airports. Only after a contempt petition was filed did the government act, and the Board recommended prohibiting contract jobs based on a committee report. However, the government did not act on this recommendation, allowing the Airports Authority of India to challenge it in court, further entangling the decade-long struggle of contract workers in legal complexities.

The government instead of acting on Board recommendation is reverting it back for review, letting the employers to go to court and circumvent the law. Once the Board recommends, it is up to the government to accept and act or reject. However there is no provision for sending it back to the Board, to review its own factual recommendations. But the Modi government is reverting back the recommendations. Board recommendation for prohibition of the contract labour engaged in packing, loading and works incidental there to in cargo division at the Chennai Airport is sent back for review. The recommendation was based on the report of the committee constituted by the Board due to contempt petition. Committee report was based on its visit, inspection of the works and submissions made to it by the concerned parties. Instead of prohibiting and providing the relief to the contract workers, the government has reverted back the recommendation, thereby has provided a leeway to the Airports Authority of India to secure a direction by the High Court against the Board and government from any coercive action, only to circumvent the law. Thereby, the 77 workers fighting for the regularisation of their services since 1991 having got the Award for regularisation in 1994, upheld by the High Court in 1997 and confirmed in 2002 by the Supreme Court are put to grave injustice by the Modi government. 

The union of contract workers working in Post Graduate Institute for Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh affiliated to BMS seeking for the prohibition of contract labour in perennial jobs has secured the direction of High Court of Chandigarh to the Board. In spite it, they are denied justice as the government is enabling the institute to seek the review of recommendation of the Board to prohibit the contract work to circumvent the law.

The previous Board had recommended for prohibition of contract work in the fire extinguishing jobs in the New Mangalore Port Trust, based on the petition of the BMS affiliated Contract workers Union. The government delayed the prohibition order, in the meantime contract workers were removed through termination of contract and the workers are denied justice.

In 2006, unions petitioned for prohibition of contract jobs in maintenance of tracks and night patrolling in southern railway, south central railway and south western railway. The Board reconstituted committee three times, but the convener labour officer delayed to convene the meeting. Later, the committee was convened and the management and unions were heard in three meetings and dates for inspection were fixed. But the labour ministry delayed the inspections and by the end of the tenure of earlier board in spite of trade union representatives opposing, all the petitions related to railways were closed as long pending petitions. The government is not yet listing them to the Board in spite of reconstituted Board decision to reopen the petitions.

However the government is listing the applications for exemption from prohibition of contract labour in the captive mines allotted to the public/private sector companies which have been outsourced under Mines Developer and Operator (MDO) model. Most of the MDO’s are owned by Adani group of companies. The recommendations for exemption from prohibition are given and are fast-tracked for notifications by the government. In total there are 134 prohibition orders all passed in the eighties, in which one after another applications for exemptions are filed and are also granted.

INCREASING NUMBER OF CONTRACT WORKERS

The number of contract workers in central sphere in 2023-24 has increased by 3.99 lakhs, licensed contractors by 8,733 and the registered principal employers by 2,088 over previous year. Once the OSH&WC code is implemented the number of licensed contractors and the number of contract workers under the licensed contractors will come down on records as the threshold limit for the mandatory licensing for the contractors is increased to 50 workers under the OSH&WC Code from the existing 20 under CLRA Act.

Portalisation, digitaliSation and randomiSation of complaints by the government through Shram Suvidha and Samadhan Portals for ease of doing business has led to year on year decreasing trend in number of inspections and detection of irregularities along with launching of prosecutions – convictions obtained for violations of CLRA Act in the central sphere. The net inspections have reduced by 369 and irregularities detected by 8,410 compared to previous year and no prosecutions are launched in 2023-24.

CACLB is an independent tripartite statutory body set up under law and need not oblige the direction of the government to review its own recommendations. But the Modi government is sending the recommendations of Board, back to Board asking for review. How can the recommendation based on a factual report be reviewed.  Can the facts be changed? If this is the attitude and way of the government in crippling the functioning of Board, while the CLRA Act is in operation that too before implementation of labour codes, what awaits once the labour codes are implemented need not be mentioned, and can be visualised.   

These acts of Modi government of reverting the recommendations for review, non listing of agendas, closing of petitions, listing and fast tracking of exemption applications, delaying to act on the recommendations to prohibit the contract labour and soon along with not providing office to the Board itself just to aid the employers, depict neo fascist characteristics in governance.

Shramev Jayate - Victory of Labour is only a rhetoric sloganeering of Modi government but in practice it is defeating and failing the fighting contract workers by undermining the statutory board. In spite of Modi government’s every attempt to fail the fighting workers, the contract workers combating it at every stage, have constrained it to reconstitute the Board. The Board with all its limitations should exist and assert its statutory authority. For this and fighting workers to win scrapping of OSH&WC code and other three codes and defeating Modi government’s nefarious deceptive moves is a must. A thunderous success of May 20th General Strike for scrapping of labour codes will be step forward in the way.