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.

The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana was launched in December 2000 with the aim of providing all-weather access to unconnected habitations with a population of 500 and above by the year 2007. It is a 100% centrally sponsored scheme with support from World Bank and Asian Development Bank.  

27-30% of the investment on this project was to be on labour. With investment levels of Rs. 2000- Rs.2500 crores per year, it was envisaged that the project would provide 6.5 crore human days and 0.56 skilled human days of work per anum. The technology used was to be labour - oriented, making maximum use of local labour and simple tractor-based equipment.

The work though is contracted out and is being done by labour replacing technology. Even the few labour employed are not paid the legal minimum wage, Rs.73. Inspite of the rural unemployment, crores of rupees in the name of labour never reach them.

The root of this problem lies in the system of contracting. Through the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970, the State recognizes that the contracting system works against the interests of the labour and subjects them to oppression. At the same time, the public sector has 50 to 60 per cent contract workers, and more and more work is being contracted out.

In the Badesar Tehsil of Chittorgarh, 12 roads are being constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. In the villages of Manji ka Guda and Magarda alone, 102.85 lakh rupees are being spent on roads of length 5.7 km. Most of the work is being done by huge machines and very few labour. Even the people employed are being paid Rs.50 instead of the stipulated minimum wage Rs.73. The workers have complained to the district collector and the labour inspector, but no investigation has been done yet. Mazdoor Kisaan Sangatan has launched a campaign in the villages of this Tehsil to fight for the workers rights.

The Sangatan sat on a protest on Feb.5 at the Collecterate to assert its demands at the Public Works Department, which is the implementing agency for the project. A report follows.

Women as workers

Think of the image we get when we talk about a farmer or a labourer. Do we imagine women working the fields or making roads or schools. Isn't our image dominated by men ploughing, building roads, running JCBs. We only need to go once to the farms and roads to realize that this image is false. Unfortunately, this is the perception women workers themselves have. They might not run JCBs, but most of the work is done by them.

The report ShramShakti, 1988 (A report on women workers in the informal sector) points out that the conventional definition of work does not include the many types of labour a woman does. Consequently, most of women's work goes unacknowledged and unrecognized. Internalizing the world's view of their work, most of the times women themselves do not consider themselves workers, even when they do most of the work.

Please note that most workers (almost all) mentioned in this report are women and make your images more inclusive if necessary.

Labour Commissioner

The Labour Commissioner first invited a couple of people to speak to him inside his office. When refused he came out and listened to the workers on the road in front his office. He showed us the report made by the labour inspector saying that the contractor pays the labour 75Rs per day, pays for their treatment when sick signed by the workers from a village called Saal Ka Kheda. We told him that the same inspector also went to Manji Ka guda and forced the workers to sign and they refused. The Commissioner promised investigation into the matter. We asked him to deal with the case in a way that would cause the workers to spend little money and time. He promised a session of the court in the village.

We filed 2 cases: one for violation of the minimum wages act in the construction of road in the villages Manji ka guda and Magarda under the Pradan Mantri Sadak Yojana, second for the violation of the minimum wages act in the construction of the schools in the villages of Bheelon ka kheda and Agoria under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

We told him that there were other schools and roads being constructed and no where were the minimum wages being paid. He said there would be no point in investigating with suo moto power because the labour would not speak up under the pressure from the contractors as it happened in Saal ka Kheda.

We also mentioned that the Pradhan Mantri Sadak Yojana mentions that most of the work should be done by labour and simple machines, but labour replacing technology is being used. The Labour Commissioners Office has no power to dictate that machines should not be used. It is under the jusridiction of the Central Government.

PWD

The executive engineer refused to let the workers in, but a few managed to enter into the office. There was a huge debate with the workers when he said wages are paid according to the work they do. He said they had no complaints from any where else and went on arguing insensitively.

We put our points across

1. The "General Conditions of Contract" in the Contract Agreement between the PWD and the contractor says that the Contractor should abide by the labour laws and the PWD can hold him/her accountable if s/he fails to. If PWD receives a complaint, it needs to investigate into the matter no matter what the office bearers believe in (that people do not work, that the contractor pays according to the measurement, that machines are used everywhere and one cannot stop them etc.)
2. There are 12 roads being built in the Badesar Tehsil and 9 of them are under one contractor. If they receive complaints from 2 roads, they should use their suo motto power to investigate into other roads as well.
3. We want to look into contract agreement, the payment register (it is with the contractor and he needs to present it to the executive engineer fortnightly if asked for), the expenditure on machines, material and labour according to the Right to Information Act, 2005

He said he would look into the matter in the 2 villages. No complaint means no problem and so he will not spend his time on the other roads. We saw the contract agreement and he said they would make available the other 2 documents from the contractor within the stipulated period according to the law.

Collector

The Collector of Chittorgarh listened, 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.

A Note on the Use of Machines

The Central Governments presentation to the World Bank says that the rural roads are being constructed for the empowerment of people. Improved access to hospitals, schools, markets and generation of rural local employment are cited as the main reasons. It says at investment levels of Rs. 2000-2500 crores per annum, 6.50 crore mandays (unskilled), 0.56 crore mandays (skilled) will generated per annum. 27-30% of cost of roadwork is the labour component. Now, this translates to work for about 40 people on 1 km for 100 days.

6.5 crore humandays  = 6.5 lakh workers working for 100 days a year.

On an average 15 lakh rupees are spent on a kilometer.

If investment of Rs.2500 crores provides 6.5 lakh workers 100 days of work per year, investment of Rs.15 lakh should provide 39 workers 100 days of work per year. ((15lakh*6.5 lakh)/2500 crores)

So, there is work for 30 people for 100 days a year on every kilometer of road being constructed. On a rural road (average 3 km long), you should be able to find 90 people working for 100 days a year.

But if you look at the roads being constructed, you would not find more than 20 people at any point of time. Most of the work in being done by huge machines and very few labour.

Now, who is accountable for this. Each department pushes this into somebody else's sphere and there is no one accountable in the entire system. The plan is made by the Central Govt, executed by the PWD and district level agencies who contract it out.

Unfortunately, middle class mindset has no problem with the use of these machines, we have come to believe that machines are better, faster, smoother and make better roads faster. One needs to ask why we need a road, a rural road. Why does it need to be made fast. If a village had no access to the main road for 60 years after independence, what is the hurry to construct a road now. Especially when it supposed to have been planned so as to generate work, why bring in machines replacing labour.

Is it so the rich in the villages can no longer wait to run their cars and motorcyles on these roads subsidized by a poor workers sweat. What does a road mean to a poor villager. It simply means work and the Government acknowlegdes it too. Their work is stolen, their wages are stolen and there is no one accoutable for this.

 A Note on the Labour Laws and the State

The "General Conditions of Contract" under the Contract Agreement says this

"The Contractor shall keep the Employer indemnified in case any action is taken against the Employer by the competent authority on account of contravention of any of the provisions of any Act or rules made there under, regulations or notifications including amendments. If the Employer is caused to pay or reimburse, such amounts as may be necessary to cause or observe, or for non-observance of the provisions stipulated in the notifications/bye laws/Acts/Rules/regulations including amendments, if any, on the part of the Contractor, the Engineer/Employer shall have the right to deduct any money due to the Contractor including his amount of performance security.   The Employer/Engineer shall also have right to recover from the Contractor any sum required or estimated to be required for making good the loss or damage suffered by the Employer.

The employees of the Contractor and the Sub-Contractor in no case shall be treated as the employees of the Employer at any point of time."

The Contract Labour Act, 1970 says that in case of failure on the part of the contractor to provide such facilities as stipulated by the law or pay wages, the principal employer is made liable to provide the amenities.

Now, doesn't this scheme contradict the law. It is shameful that the Government, the principal employer in this case has disowned all responsibility. It has made the contractor accountable for everything and the monitoring structures very weak. When the state itself is not interested in the protection of its citizens rights as workers, why would the contractor whose primary interest in making money be unless the state regulates and monitors strictly.

After the Dharna

The munims and sun-contractors have harassed the workers after the dharna. In Magarda, the workers lost their work because they demanded their rightful share. They were forced to sign when they were paid. They workers refused to take the wages if it meant that they were acknowledging that they got minimum wages through the signature.

In Manji ka Guda, the munim tried to break the workers unity. He tried to bribe the most vocal. He threatened that they would be removed from work. But all the women resisted and they are still going for work.

The court hearing will happen on the 7th of March. We will attend the hearing. But we believe that these court procedures and administration will not be able to help the workers claim their rights because they were never meant to be. They only serve to make the workers hope and cause enormous delays which will break the workers spirit. It is the machinery of the state which is an agent of the rich.

We think only a prolonged struggle in the villages by the people is the only way. As a Sangatan we show the path which we think is right, but it is upto the people to speak up and stand united. So, far the have been amazing in their will to fight and stand united in these 4 villages. There were a couple of other places where we tried mobilizing people, but not everyone responded the same. So, we limited our work to these 4 villages. Hopefully, they will serve as an example for the others.