[Reader-list] Seventh Posting: Migrant (construction) workers on the IT corridor

[venkat t]

Interview with the labour commissioner of Kanchepuram,

We had a lengthy discussion with the commissioner of labour, district
of Kanchepuram on the 27th of September. The discussion revolved
around the Inter State Migrant Workers act and its implementation. As
most part of the IT corridor falls under the jurisdiction of
Kanchepuram district, the labour commissioner of Kanchepuram was the
person in-charge for implementing the labour acts.

When asked about the number of registered establishments, he said "we
do not have the numbers of registered sites as the establishments have
to register with the state office. But there are 76 contractors to
whom we have given licenses under the act. We estimate as per their
license agreements that there are 9490 migrant workers but we don't
know the actual figures. This could be far lower than the actual."

The labour commissioner said that when ever they go on an inspection,
they check for the Identity of the establishment, name and address of
the establishment, verify who the principal employer is. They also see
whether all the contractors are licensed and if they have registered
all the workers. They also check for the registration certificates
issued by the state labour department as verify if there is any
contravention between the cited work and the work entrusted to the
contractors. He added "the act comes into force only in a site that
employs more than 5 migrant contract workers, so when we go to inspect
a site, we get signatures from a minimum of 25 employees so that the
site comes under the ambit of contract workers act as well as migrant
workers act." "if the employer is not registered, or if we find that
some of his contractors are not licensed, we ask him to do the same
immediately. There is no grace period for it"

Speaking further about inspections the labour commissioner said that
they generally check if the welfare measures that are listed in the
act have been met. Some of the amenities are potable drinking water,
adequate toilet facilities for men and women, a readily available
first aid box, free and hygienic accommodation, and canteen facility
for workers in a site that engages more than 100 workers. He added
"the canteen should be run in a no loss, no profit motive". They also
verify the wage registers to check the minimum wage, which is Rs
147.68/- (including DA). When asked what is the recourse if the
contractors fail to provide the following amenities, he said "if the
contractors fail to provide the amenities, the principal employer has
to provide the same with 15 days."

Speaking about enforcement he said that it is best to be persuasive
before taking recourse to prosecution. "we have a format or a
checklist, this is not in any rules, we have framed it with our
experience, we go on joint visits to an establishment, we call this
joint raid. The team usually consists of the assistant labour
inspector, deputy inspector and the inspector himself; occasionally
even I go to the inspection. We get signatures from atleast 25 persons
who work their as evidence for our inspection. We note down the
contraventions and violations in our inspection report and send to the
principal employer an inspection order, asking him to reply to the
same or rectify the contraventions. If there is a satisfactory answer,
we go for a re inspection. But if there is none within 7 days, we send
a show cause notice and if even this is neglected we charge sheet the
employer." He said that only the deputy inspector and above are
empowered to press charges and the assistant inspector is a mere
executive authority.

He said that thus there are but 3 officers for the entire district, (2
deputy inspectors and one inspector) who have to do most of the work.
they are also not provided with staff and infrastructure or even
vehicles to inspect establishments that are all around the district.
Upon this they have to enforce 32 acts, which include weights and
measures as well as abolition of child labour act. Speaking about the
hardships he said we have to also file cases and attend hearings. He
added that it was also hard getting convictions in most of the cases
as they lack hard evidence as the migrant workers keep moving and also
end up with out of court settlements.

The district labour office has filed 12 cases within the interstate
migrant workers act in the last month or two. These mostly include
contraventions of provision of amenities.

Discussing about the accidents he said that while the Inter state
migrant workers act does not directly deal with accidents, they use
the workmen's compensation act, which empowers them to compensate the
worker for accidents at the work site that cause partial, temporary or
permanent disability and also for death. The Deputy Commissioner of
labour (state) hears the complaints and settles the disputes. But he
added that he has not come across many serious accidents among migrant
workers.

Discussing about the condition of the migrant workers, he said that
many come from districts in Andhra and Orissa and only a few come from
the northern states. He added that they work really hard and come with
a single motive of making money. "They do earn more than what they
would earn in their villages; this prompts them to move here. But it
is the contractors who drain the workers of their wages, it is hard to
catch them as the workers never reveal for fear of losing their work"
he further added "this is because of a complete lack of awareness
among the workers, they would even resist us. They will hesitate to
make a signature in the paper and will seek permission from the
contractor to sign." He also noted that among the workers, the workers
from Andhra were generally illiterate while the workers from central
India could at least sign their names.

He said that there is a clause to collect a security deposit form the
principal employer for every worker they employ. "I have asked the
employers to deposit a security deposit which would pay for the
worker's return fare. This would enable me to use the money to at
least send the worker back home if he has some problem with the
employer and is unable to get any pay and is thrown out of the job."
He went on saying "many don't use it as they don't even know that they
could come to us"

After the meeting he took us to one of the sites that they have
inspected at the SIPCOT industrial area in Siruseri.

(To be contd)