Once again unorganised sector workers in West Bengal came face to face with an administration that cares little for those at the bottom of the economic rung.
Fifteen unorganised sector worker unions in West Bengal (including PBKMS), had come together to form the Asanghatit Kshetra Shramik Sangrami Manch (Front for the Struggle of Unorganised Sector Workers) in 2010. Their main issue was fixing a just minimum wage and enforcement of the Minimum Wages Act 1948. It was on this issue that about 2,500 of them had gathered in Kolkata, near the office of the Joint Labour Commissioner (JLC) in charge of minimum wages fixation on February 4, 2011. At about 1.30 p.m. a delegation of six of them went to meet the Joint Labour Commissioner. What they saw and heard there was a sorry state of affairs.
The JLC’s office is symbolic of the neglect of minimum wages in the State. It is on the fourth floor of 6 Church Lane. There is no board outside to tell you where the office is. The lifts do not work generally. Any worker who wants to register any kind of protest must first climb up the four storeys. Our delegation had two 70-year-olds and a very sick man suffering from a kidney problem. We panted and worried about them. As we went up gasping, we were informed by the large police force that was escorting us that both the phones of the JLC were also not working, making public contact virtually impossible.
When we finally reached the office, we were greeted by a number of empty desks, piles of dusty files (both a common sight in most West Bengal offices) and the crowning glory of all – a crowd of men in the middle of the room intently playing carom! It was the royal time – the lunch break. The state of the room made us feel the lunch break continued throughout the day.
The JLC’s office itself smelt clammy and uncared for, with electricity wires falling off the wall, huge patches of damp, a cardboard divider that had gaping holes, windows that were broken and rags for curtains.
The JLC, Md Amanul Haque, in charge of the Minimum Wages Directorate of the Labour Department of West Bengal, turned out to be a pleasant man, who smiled even when we spoke about the dire straits of workers who were paid Rs 35-40 for a hard day’s work. We demanded that a floor wage of Rs 248.50 be paid to workers. We showed him calculations of the wages that we had made. He still smiled (in amusement or in helplessness? we wondered), and told us that the West Bengal Government had fixed wages in the agricultural sector at Rs 127 in 2009, which would now be about Rs 150, after adjustment for price rise. He said this was “still under consideration” and would be finalised soon. He agreed that this would be the floor wage for West Bengal as agricultural workers are always paid the lowest.
Mr Haque could not counter our calculations in any way. He insisted that wages had been fixed following the 15th Indian Labour Conference norms, the same norms that we were following, but was unable to explain the discrepancy of Rs.100 between the Labour Department’s calculations and ours. We asked him for documents. We were told these were closely guarded (state secrets? issues of national security?) and could not be shared. What is the Government concealing, we asked? Has it reduced wages artificially by depressing food consumption to malnutrition levels? Are workers wages being calculated on 2200 calories per day rather than the mandatory 2700 calories per day necessary for a moderately active male? We received a pleasant smile in reply.
The next issue we brought up was of High Court stay orders against minimum wage revision. A representative from Shramajivi Samanvay Committee representing brick workers angrily said, “The brick field owners stayed revision of minimum wages in 2004. You have not sent a representative to the court even once in the past 7 years, forget trying to get the stay withdrawn.” The representatives of hosiery workers and shop employees brought up similar problems. The JLC mumbled (smilingly, of course!) about how this was not his concern but the duty of the law cell of the department.
We then brought up the issue of minimum wage enforcement. The problems were myriad - inspectors who go to factories, take bribes from owners and return without taking any action; the fewer minimum wage inspectors; minimum wage inspectors who do everything – gathering data for surveys and the Census, correction of the BPL List and voters’ list – except enforcement of minimum wages; assistant labour commissioners who have no enforcement powers; a huge decline in cases of punishment for non payment of minimum wages; violent attacks by police – and administration-supported employers – on workers who demand minimum wages; Government departments violating the minimum wages act themselves etc. The JLC accepted all our criticisms, smiling as always.
The meeting ended with a clear admission by the JLC that there had been a shift in focus within the Government. While the Labour Department itself had been marginalised, within the Department’s functioning, the enforcement of minimum wages, which involved taking contentious anti-employer stands, was not seen as an important function. Instead, minimum wage inspectors and the other staff of the department were kept occupied in enlisting people for various Government-aided lollipops of welfare schemes. Even here the performance was pathetic – in the 10 years since the State Assisted Scheme of Provident Fund for Unorganised Workers (SASPFUW) had been initiated , the JLC informed us that they had enlisted 23 lakhs unorganised sector workers in West Bengal. This is less than 8% of the 2.9 crores unorganised sector workers in the state. These are 2004-05 figures and numbers have increased since then.[1]
The meeting ended on the expected note, with the JLC explaining that he had neither information, nor any effective action for us. He said (smilingly), “Aaamder haath-pa bandha” (our hands and feet are tied), showing once more the total ineffectualness of the Labour Department in West Bengal.
The 2,500 workers left soon after for their homes, just as empty handed as they had come, only with a resolve to come back once again to force the Government to accept their demands for a fair wage and for proper enforcement.
Asanghatit Kshetra Shramik Sangrami Manch has based its minimum wage calculations on the universally accepted 15th Indian Labour Conference norms and Supreme Court orders that state a family unit consists of 2 adults and 2 children; each adult must have a balance diet with 2,700 calories per day and each person 18 yards of cloth per year; each family will spend 20% of its wage on fuel, electricity etc. and 25% on health education and entertainment; and each family must be given rent for housing in keeping with Government’s minimum housing allowance . Food requirements per adult as are as follows at current prices.
Item | Quantity (gm) | Calorie (100 gm) | Calorie value | Cost per kg | Total cost |
Grains (Rice, Wheat) | 397 | 345 | 1370 | 18 | 7.15 |
Dal | 85.2 | 343 | 292 | 55 | 8.69 |
Greens | 113.8 | 51 | 58 | 10 | 1.13 |
Potato | 85.2 | 50 | 43 | 15 | 1.28 |
Other vegatables | 85.2 | 32 | 27 | 12 | 1.02 |
Fruit | 85.2 | 59 | 50 | 50 | 8.26 |
Milk | 200 | 67 | 134 | 22 (per litre) | 8.8 |
Oil & Ghee | 40 | 900 | 360 | 65 | 2.6 |
Sugar | 56.68 | 398 | 226 | 30 | 1.7 |
Fish & Meat | 85.2 | 105 | 89 | 120 | 10.22 |
Half egg | 28.25 | 173 | 49 | 3.5 | 1.75 |
Total | 2698 | 40.2 |
Cloth required during the year is 72 yards or Rs 3,600 per year which amounts to Rs 30 per day (agricultural workers getting work only for 120 days per annum) . Thus cloth and food take Rs 150.60. With 20% of this or Rs 30.12 for fuel; with 25% of cloth+food+fuel or Rs 45.18 for education and health; and 10% of the total so far or Rs 22.59 for rent, the daily wage should be Rs 248.49.
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