Skip to main content

Whither protection? 88% Gujarat employees without job contract, 67% sans paid leave

Amidst apprehensions that the Government of India’s new labour codes, tabled in Parliament recently, are driven by the interests of the industry in order to “alter” the labour protection landscape in India “beyond repair and reclaim”, facts have come to light suggesting that “model” Gujarat has been one of the worst states in the country as far as providing any form of protection to its workers is concerned.
Published by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India, a recent report, “Annual Report: Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS)”, has found that 87.7% of Gujarat wage or salaried employees in the non-agricultural sector work “without job contract”, which is the second highest among 21 major states, next to Karnataka (94.2%).
Based on a survey carried out across India between July 2017and June 2018, the report has also found that Gujarat’s 66.8% workers in the same category are “not eligible for paid leave”, which is again the second highest in India, next only to Rajasthan (68.4%), and the state’s 55.9% workers do not get “any social security benefit”, which is fifth worst following Andhra Pradesh (62.7%), Rajasthan (61.1%), Punjab (60.8%) and West Bengal (59.2%).
Combining all the three ingredients, the survey has further found that as for “workers not eligible for paid leave, without written job contract and without any social security benefit”, Gujarat is the fourth worst (47.3%), following Rajasthan (54.3%), Punjab (52.2%) and Andhra Pradesh (51.9%). The national average is 38%. 
The inter-state comparative figures come amidst Gujarat government claims that it has been following the International Labour Organization (ILO) guidelines in order to “protect” workers from exploitation, one reason why it has refused to accept the exit policy, allowing industry to retrench workers at will, as suggested by the Government of India.
Through a labour law amendment, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not only given powers to the government to prohibit strikes in public utility services – where increasing number of persons are being appointed on contract – it has scaled down the period a worker could fight a case against the industry.
Under the amended law, an industrial worker now gets only a year to make an application against his dismissal, discharge, etc., raising an "industrial dispute" to the labour court or tribunal, as against the earlier window of three years. Further, the state has allowed industrial units in special economic zones (SEZs) to lay off workers without government’s sanction, which is seen as a precursor of things to come in Gujarat.
The failure to provide workers’ protection in Gujarat, significantly, is coupled with the same Government of India report pointing out that the per month average wages or salary earnings for regular employees in Gujarat during April-June 2018 was Rs 14,528.24, which is lower than all major 21 states with the sole exception of West Bengal (Rs 11,978.99).
The all-India average for lack of protection to its workers is, no doubt, poor, but not as bad as the one finds in Gujarat. Thus, as against Gujarat’s 87.7%, the report says, in India, among regular wage/salaried employees in the non-agriculture sector, 71.1 per cent do no have a written job contract.
Further, as against Gujarat’s 66.8%, the report states, 54.2% in workers in the same category across India are found to be not eligible for paid leave. And, as against Gujarat’s 55.9%, in India, 49.6% workers are found to be not eligible for any social security benefit.
The authoritative survey, even as seeking to ascertain the duration of the written contract or agreement with the employer, including the date of termination, if any, in all Indian states, says, “However, if no written contract existed, then irrespective of the duration of employment, it was considered as no written job contract.”
For the ascertaining whether employees were eligible to get paid leave, the report takes into account paid leave “during sickness, maternity, or such leave, as an employee was eligible to take without loss of pay, as per the conditions of employment.”
And as for ascertaining whether employees are covered under any of the specified social security benefits or a combination of them arranged by the employer, the survey seeks details of whether contribution has been made by the employer towards provident fund, pension, gratuity, health care, maternity benefits.
It states, “Those who were not covered under any of the above social security schemes were considered as not eligible for any social security benefits.”

Comments

TRENDING

When Pakistanis whispered: ‘end military rule’ — A Moscow memoir

During the recent anti-terror operation inside Pakistan by the Government of India, called Operation Sindoor — a name some feminists consider patently patriarchal, even though it’s officially described as a tribute to the wives of the 26 husbands killed in the terrorist strike — I was reminded of my Moscow stint, which lasted for seven long years, from 1986 to 1993.

Ahmedabad's civic chaos: Drainage woes, waterlogging, and the illusion of Olympic dreams

In response to my blog on overflowing gutter lines at several spots in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur, a heavily populated area, a close acquaintance informed me that it's not just the middle-class housing societies that are affected by the nuisance. Preeti Das, who lives in a posh locality in what is fashionably called the SoBo area, tells me, "Things are worse in our society, Applewood."

Tracking a lost link: Soviet-era legacy of Gujarati translator Atul Sawani

The other day, I received a message from a well-known activist, Raju Dipti, who runs an NGO called Jeevan Teerth in Koba village, near Gujarat’s capital, Gandhinagar. He was seeking the contact information of Atul Sawani, a translator of Russian books—mainly political and economic—into Gujarati for Progress Publishers during the Soviet era. He wanted to collect and hand over scanned soft copies, or if possible, hard copies, of Soviet books translated into Gujarati to Arvind Gupta, who currently lives in Pune and is undertaking the herculean task of collecting and making public soft copies of Soviet books that are no longer available in the market, both in English and Indian languages.

RP Gupta a scapegoat to help Govt of India manage fallout of Adani case in US court?

RP Gupta, a retired 1987-batch IAS officer from the Gujarat cadre, has found himself at the center of a growing controversy. During my tenure as the Times of India correspondent in Gandhinagar (1997–2012), I often interacted with him. He struck me as a straightforward officer, though I never quite understood why he was never appointed to what are supposed to be top-tier departments like industries, energy and petrochemicals, finance, or revenue.

Environmental report raises alarm: Sabarmati one of four rivers with nonylphenol contamination

A new report by Toxics Link , an Indian environmental research and advocacy organisation based in New Delhi, in collaboration with the Environmental Defense Fund , a global non-profit headquartered in New York, has raised the alarm that Sabarmati is one of five rivers across India found to contain unacceptable levels of nonylphenol (NP), a chemical linked to "exposure to carcinogenic outcomes, including prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women."

PharmEasy: The only online medical store which revises prices upwards after confirming the order

For senior citizens — especially those without a family support system — ordering medicines online can be a great relief. Shruti and I have been doing this for the last couple of years, and with considerable success. We upload a prescription, receive a verification call from a doctor, and within two or three days, the medicines are delivered to our doorstep.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Revisiting Gijubhai: Pioneer of child-centric education and the caste debate

It was Krishna Kumar, the well-known educationist, who I believe first introduced me to the name — Gijubhai Badheka (1885–1939). Hailing from Bhavnagar, known as the cultural capital of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, Gijubhai, Kumar told me during my student days, made significant contributions to the field of pedagogy — something that hasn't received much attention from India's education mandarins. At that time, Kumar was my tutorial teacher at Kirorimal College, Delhi University.

A sector under siege? War and real estate: Navigating uncertainty in India's expanding market

I was a little surprised when I received an email alert from a top real estate consultant, Anarock Group , titled "Exploring War’s Effects on Indian Real Estate—When Conflict Meets Concrete," authored by its regional director and head of research, Dr. Prashant Thakur. I had thought that the business would wholeheartedly support what is considered a strong response to the dastardly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Operation Sindoor.