Madhulika writes about a protest in rural Rajasthan against corruption by government agencies and contractors implementing the Prime Ministers Village Road Program and the National Right to Employment Guarantee Act where rural workers are not being paid minimum wages and numerous clauses are being flouted. A follow up to earlier events.

The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana – initiated to provide all weather access to unconnected habitations – insists on the employment of labour-oriented technology, making maximum use of local labour. However, the ground reality in Badesar tehsil of Chittorgarh, Rajasthan, tells a different story. Not only are the provisions of the Yojana not being followed, but protests made to the Labour Commissioner, the Public Works Department (PWD) Executive Engineer and the Collector of the region have only resulted in the workers losing their jobs.

The Yojana was launched in December 2000 with the aim of providing access to unconnected habitations with a population of 500 and above by the year 2007. Twenty-seven to thirty per cent of the investment (it is a centrally sponsored scheme with support from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank) is to be on labour. With investment levels of Rs.2000 - Rs.2500 crores per year, it is envisaged that the project will would provide 6.5 crore unskilled human work days and 0.56 crore skilled work days per year. The impetus is on employing local labour.

In Badesar, 12 roads are being constructed under the Yojana. In the villages of Manji ka Guda and Magarda alone, Rs.102.85 lakhs are being spent on roads of length 5.7 kms. However, most of the work has been contracted out and is being done by labour-replacing technology. Even the people employed are being paid Rs.50 instead of the stipulated minimum wage Rs.73.

Through the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970, the state recognises that the contracting system works against the interests of the labour; yet more work is being contracted out. The Mazdoor Kisaan Sangatan, working for the interests of the labour in the region, has launched a campaign to fight for workers rights in the tehsil.

The protestors met with the Labour Commissioner Sajjan Singh, the PWD Executive Engineer R C Bhalai and the District Collector P L Agarwal on 5 February. Commissioner Singh showed them the report made by the labour inspector saying that in the village of Saal ka Kheda, the contractor paid the labour Rs.75 per day and also paid for their treatment when sick. On being told by the protestors that in the village of Manji ka Guda, the same inspector had forced workers to sign and that they had refused, Singh promised investigation and also a session of the court in the village.

After the meeting at the Labour Commissioner's Office, the workers, under the guidance of the Mazdoor Kisaan Sangatan, filed two cases: 1) violation of the Minimum Wages Act in the road construction in Manji ka Guda and Magarda villages under the Pradhan Mantri Sadak Yojana, and 2) violation of the Minimum Wages Act in the construction of schools in the villages of Bheelon ka Kheda and Agoria uner the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan. The hearing was to happen on 7 March, but was postponed to the end of the month.

PWD Executive Engineer R C Bhalai refused to entertain the workers and their complaints, and insisted that no other complaints had come in regarding insufficient or incorrect wages. Despite this lack of cooperation, the workers put their points across:

1. The 'General Conditions of Contract' in the contract agreement between the PWD and the contractors says that the contractor must abide by the labour laws and the PWD can hold them accountable if they fail to. If PWD receives a complaint, it needs to investigate into the matter.
2. There are 12 roads being built in Badesar Tehsil and nine of them are under one contractor. If the PWD receives complaints from two roads, it should use its suo moto power to investigate other roads.
3. The workers want to look at the contract agreement, the payment register that the contractor must present to the executive engineer fortnightly if asked for, the expenditure on machines, material and labour under the Right to Information Act.

Subsequently, Bhalai agreed to look into only two cases as no complaint meant no problem in the other cases. The contract agreement was presented to the workers; the executive engineer agreed to make the remaining two documents available within the stipulated period according to the law.

Chittorgarh Collector Agarwal also listened to the workers' complaints, made a phone call to the PWD and said they should make sure the workers get the minimum wage. He sent notices to the PWD and the Sarva Shiksha Office too.

However, these protests have not achieved anything. The munims and sub-contractors have harassed the workers after the 5 February dharna. In Magarda, the workers lost their work and were forced to sign when they were paid. They refused to take the incorrect wages if it meant that their signatures would attest the fact that they had been paid their due. In Manji ka Guda, the munim tried to break the workers unity by bribing the most vocal. He threatened that they would be removed from work. The Mazdoor Kisaan Sangatan is organising further protests in Asavara Mataji to highlight this double injustice.

Madhulika
26 Mar 2007

Madhulika is based at Amarpura village in Chittorgarh, and is with the Khetihar Khan Mazdoor Sangtan. This note was first published on India Together