Every two in five workers employed in the formal manufacturing sector were on contract in Financial Year 2023, thus showing an increasing trend of contract-based employment in the country’s labour force. According to the additional Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), in 2023, a total of 14.61 million workers were employed by 2,53,000 factories across India. Of them, 5.95 million workers (40.7 per cent) were on contract the highest ever as compared to only 40.2 per cent in the preceding financial year. These workers are distinct from regular employees who have permanent or long-term employment status with social security benefits. Most of the contract labourers are underpaid and are being exploited in various ways. No government or political party has shown any interest to intervene in this grim issue.
Contract workers are employed by an industrial establishment through contractual agreements for a specified period or task. In the pre-Covid year, the share of contract workers stood at 38.4 per cent — only 5.02 million of the total 13.05 million workers were employed through contractors. Besides, data also showed that among the remaining directly employed workers in these factories, the share of women stagnated at 18.42 per cent.
But the government policies and the various amendments in to the Labour Law has made things more difficult for the working class. Centre as well as all the state governments including Maharashtra are taking advantage of the new laws. Employer friendly legislations are allowing the loot of the labourers.
As per the new labour laws notified on September 29, the Industrial Relations (IR) Code, 2020, companies can now convert permanent jobs into fixed-term contracts. The new guidelines have also permitted companies to hire contract workers directly through a fixed-term contract, which initially required companies to hire contract workers through a contractor. As mentioned above, according to the new labour law code of 2020, companies can omit the process of hiring fixed-term contract workers through a contractor. This will cut the middle man process, which was seen as an expensive and cumbersome process. According to industry experts, by eliminating the dependence of companies on contractors to hire fixed-term contract workers, permanent jobs in the market will be looked down upon. Under this enactment, contract workers will not only receive equal compensations as received by their permanent counterparts but also companies will hold the authority to hand out contractual jobs to their existing permanent workforce.
The amendments made by the government in the Act are favourable for employers. Employees are the most affected part of the economy, especially after the coronavirus outbreak. Most of the workers and labourers are at the receiving end. As no option is left before them, helpless employees have been pushed in a lurch.
Comments