Skip to main content

Government 'fails to take up' Indian migrants' unpaid wages issue with other countries

By Rafeek Ravuther, Chandan Kumar, Dharmendra Kumar* 

The migrant workers were one of the most vulnerable sections during the pandemic. India experiences large-scale movement of migrants internally and internationally. After the outbreak of the pandemic, migrant workers continued to face injustice especially in getting wages in expedited manner.
In the international context, India, the home of 9 million cross-border temporary labour migrants, carried out the largest repatriation exercise ‘Vande Bharat Mission’. Even though the Indian government addressed the immediate requirement of repatriation, it failed to understand and recognise their post-arrival grievances, like back wages, social protection etc.
Recently many workers were deported from the middle- east region. Amidst the establishment of grievance mechanisms such as Consular Services Management System (MADAD) and helplines in Pravasi Bharatiya Sahayata Kendra (PBSK), the unresolved grievances remain high. The number of unresolved cases in the past years (2019 and 2020) is 6,988.
This figure only includes Gulf countries except for UAE. As per the Government of India (GoI), 17,848 labour complaints were received by Indian Missions and Posts from Indian workers outside the country that included non-payment of wages or salaries between March 2020 and December 2021. Some of those who had lost their work were terminated and repatriated forcefully. Only a handful of workers received all benefits and dues.
Currently, the national and state governments do not offer any specific platform to address the issue of wage theft among internal workers in the country. The informality and temporariness of their job often prevented them from reaching out to common legal platforms such as labour courts and tribunals.
Similarly, wage theft was poorly addressed across various migration corridors over the years due to the lack of access to justice mechanisms and labour protection systems both at the country of origin and destination.
In this context, the Centre for Indian Migrant Studies (CIMS) and the Working People’s Coalition (WPC) along with other civil society and trade union partners has organised a national consultation on Justice for Wage Theft on 23-24 September at New Delhi. It is a country-wide multi-stakeholder discussion to understand and evaluate the issue of wage theft and stakeholder responses during the pandemic among internal and international migrants.
The Campaign Against Wage Theft identified that this persistent issue should not only be seen in the context of the pandemic. The campaign has become widespread across all major migration corridors and is also internationally recognised by the UN.
This conference was a rare opportunity for groups working with internal and international migrant workers to come together, and discuss this complex subject in a comprehensive manner. 
After day one of the conference the gravity of the issue was realized. It involved discussion on themes such as nature and extent of wage theft, government responses to the issue, non-government stakeholder responses and the future of access to justice mechanisms and lastly, how to improve access to justice for Indian migrants within India and outside.
Manoj Jha, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, gave the inaugural speech where he addressed the migrant workers issues and how these workers are given false promises to get access to better wages and social protection in the deception of currency exchange rates and their passports are confiscated.
He asserted that migrant workforce are invisible citizens whose discourse is nowhere in the radar. He expressed his solidarity to the campaign while suggesting that we should develop a platform or advocacy tools for drawing knowledge for the Parliamentarians so that they can take it forward through various mediums.
Other speakers included Anup Satpathy, Gayatri Singh, Dr Binod Khadria, Amish, Akhil, Sr Lizy Joseph, Ramendra Kumar, Shaji Mon, Santosh Poonia, Dr Atul Sood, Parvathy Devi, Binoy Peter, Adv.Subhash Chandran and Rejimon Kuttappan.
It was discussed that the common feature of both internal and international migration is the gross labour rights violations, such as wage theft, lack of access to social protection, prohibition of right to association and collective bargaining, occupational hazard and precarious working conditions. There are limited provisions hence inadequate protection in national/international labour laws.
To stop wage theft it is needed to be connected to the social concept and gendered norms of the society
To stop wage theft it is needed to be connected to the social concept and gendered norms of the society. To quantify the extent of wage theft, multiple examples were highlighted that included: the employer and labour department’s ignorance towards wages less than minimum wages, not adhering to 8 hours work a day, minimum wages not being revised and non-payment of overtime.
Workers' rights to organise, access to remedy, operational and effective grievance redressal, bilateral agreements, access to living wages, adaption of digital payments, accountability of the state, responsibility of the state to provide social protection and to introduce the wealth tax were some of the suggestive focus points.
Above all, it was addressed that the Indian government’s reluctance to proactively initiate discussions at the national/bilateral/multilateral levels is a hindrance in every attempt to retrieve unpaid wages from abroad.
Indian delegates demanded that the Government of India should implement an international justice mechanism for migrant workers to address grievances on unpaid dues. The consultation was held prior to the Conference on Access to Justice for Migrant Workers held at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 2-4 October.
The outcome expected of the Wage Theft Campaign is to understand the nature of wage theft among Indian migrant workers (both international and internal), to review the responses of state and non-state stakeholders and to seek responses from sending countries.
On day 2 discussions took place around the themes: social Protection and wage theft: Using OSH and ESIC as tools to strengthen ‘wage campaign”, access to regular wages and social protection provisions for women migrants during pandemic, experiences of various states and sector, floating the idea of building campaign on ‘wage theft’ In India and lastly, group discussions towards strengthening wage theft campaign on 3 broad topics of how do we deal with wage theft & inequality, ESIC and grievance redressal mechanisms took place.
Various suggestive points and issues were discussed that included: applicability of minimum wages, basic working conditions, ramification on workers when they complain, role of government to intervene when workers file the claims and are subjected to termination.
Issues faced by migrant domestic workers were highlighted as they are unregistered and without any clear terms of employment. Further, dialogue & representation of women migrant workers, unionisation & challenges of trade unions to organise workers, lack of employment that pushes workers into vicious circles of exploitation,
Registration of workers and employers with emphasis on workers from marginalised sections taking up issues forward through litigation and lobbying were also weighed in. With respect to National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) there is violation of both Payment of Wages Act and Minimum Wages Act in many states. As a collective we need to contextualize this within the wage theft campaign.
To move forward components of our demands, coordination between national and international laws and ILO conventions in the Indian context need to be considered. The movement to protect the rights of workers needs to be taken forward in solidarity in a collaborative manner across the country. In conclusion, strategies & roadmap for the campaign were presented.
The outcome expected of the Wage Theft Campaign is to understand the nature of wage theft among Indian migrant workers (both international and internal), to review the responses of state and non-state stakeholders and to seek responses from sending countries.

Comments

TRENDING

'Draconian' Kerala health law follows WHO diktat: Govt readies to take harsh measures

By Dr Maya Valecha*  The Governor of Kerala has signed the Kerala Public Health Bill, which essentially reverses the people’s campaign in healthcare services in Kerala for decentralisation. The campaign had led to relinquishing of state powers in 1996, resulting in improvement of health parameters in Kerala. Instead, now, enforcement of law through the exercise of power, fines, etc., and the implementation of protocol during the pandemic, are considered of prime importance.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Bihar rural women entrepreneurs witness 50% surge in awareness about renewal energy

By Mignonne Dsouza*  An endline survey conducted under the Bolega Bihar initiative revealed a significant increase in awareness of renewable energy among women, rising from 25% to 76% in Nalanda and Gaya. Renu Kumari, a 34-year-old entrepreneur from Nalanda, Bihar, operates a village eatery that serves as the primary source of income for her family, including her husband and five children. However, a significant portion of her profits was being directed toward covering monthly electricity expenses that usually reach Rs 2,000. 

Work with Rajasthan's camel herders: German scientist wins World Cookbook Award 2023

By Rosamma Thomas*  Gourmand World Cookbook Awards are the only awards for international food culture. This year, German scientist  Ilse Kohler Rollefson , founder of Camel Charisma, the first of India’s camel dairies, in Pali district of Rajasthan, won the award for her work with camel herders in Rajasthan, and for preparing for the UN International Year of Camelids, 2024. 

Reject WHO's 'draconian' amendments on pandemic: Citizens to Union Health Minister

By Our Representative  Several concerned Indian citizens have written to the Union Health Minister to reject amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) of the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted during the 75th World Health Assembly (WHA75) in May 2022, apprehending this will make the signatories surrender their autonomy to the “unelected, unaccountable and the whimsical WHO in case of any future ‘pandemics’.”

Golwalkar's views on tricolour, martyrs, minorities, caste as per RSS archives

By Shamsul Islam*  First time in the history of independent India, the in-charge minister of the Cultural Ministry in the current Modi government, Prahlad Singh Patel, has glorified MS Golwalkar, second supremo of the RSS and the most prominent ideologue of the RSS till date, on his birth anniversary, February 19. In a tweet he wrote : “Remembering a great thinker, scholar, and remarkable leader #MSGolwalkar on his birth anniversary. His thoughts will remain a source of inspiration & continue to guide generations.”

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Why is electricity tariff going up in India? Who is the beneficiary? A random reflection

By Thomas Franco*  Union Ministry of Power has used its power under Section 11 of the Electricity Act, 2003 to force States to import coal which has led to an increase in the cost of electricity production and every consumer is paying a higher tariff. In India, almost everybody from farmers to MSMEs are consumers of electricity.

Deplorable, influential sections 'still believe' burning coal is essential indefinitely

By Shankar Sharma*  Some of the recent developments in the power sector, as some  recent news items show, should be of massive relevance/ interest to our policy makers in India. Assuming that our authorities are officially mandated/ committed to maintain a holistic approach to the overall welfare of all sections of our society, including the flora, fauna and general environment, these developments/ experiences from different parts of the globe should be clear pointers to the sustainable energy pathways for our people.

Environmental cost of Green Revolution: India world’s second-highest fertilizer importer

By Glenn Davis Stone*  Feeding a growing world population has been a serious concern for decades, but today there are new causes for alarm. Floods, heat waves and other weather extremes are making agriculture increasingly precarious, especially in the Global South .