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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | RTI reply lays bare govt’s claim of labour welfare by Shiv Sahay Singh

RTI reply lays bare govt’s claim of labour welfare by Shiv Sahay Singh

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published Published on Jan 6, 2011   modified Modified on Jan 6, 2011

Even as the Left Front government in Bengal have pledged itself to champion the cause of labourers in the country, the number of companies in the state who deny minimum wages to its workers has increased manifold in the last few years.

In 2006, 61 companies were fined for denying minimum wages to its workers which came down to 42 in 2007. But again in 2008 the number increased to 223 and in the year 2009 it soared to 286. This was revealed by the Department of Labour in reply to a RTI query filled by an NGO, Indian People’s Right for Information and Democracy.

The application was filed by Prabir Banerjee, president of the organisation on November 1, 2010. The applicant sought to know the number of violations of Minimum Wages Act from 2006, the names of the companies and the number of workers affected.

While the state labour department has realised substantial amount of fine or penalty from the companies for violating the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, it revealed that it did not maintain a list of the the organisations nor the number of workers who were not paid the minimum wages.

“No such register describing the name and number of the establishment and workers and workers affected through the violation of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 is maintained in this office,” the reply to the RTI query says.

The department, meanwhile, collected Rs 33,150 from the erring companies in 2006, in 2007 it came down to Rs 9,300. In 2008, however, it went up to Rs 22,230 and in 2009 the department collected Rs 48,820 as penalty amount.

While the minimum wage under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Gurantee Employment Scheme (MNREGA) is Rs 100, for the beedi industry it is Rs 101.46 and in case of brick manufacturing it is Rs 141.46. In case of unskilled ceramic industry the minimum wage is Rs 134.62 and for sericulture it is Rs 97.75.

The RTI query has also revealed that in many districts of the state there is no implementation of the provision of the Minimum Wages Act. The office of the labour commissioner has forwarded the RTI query to various districts offices.

“This information has revealed that there is gross violation of Minimum Wages Act in the state which is a violation of the fundamental right. While the state government claims that it has done great work for labourers, in reality the labourers are denied their due. The situation is strange when the state government has collected the fine amount but says that they do not have details of those who were fined,” said Anindya Kishor, a representative of the NGO.

The Indian Express, 7 January, 2011, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/rti-reply-lays-bare-govts-claim-of-labour-welfare/734438/


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