Bhat Yasir
After abrogation of Jammu Kashmir’s semi-autonomy and special status granted by Article 370 & 35A, the claims made by government for the welfare of people seem nothing but mere mirage. Hopes of thousands of daily wagers, casual labours and need base contractual workers are slowly dying.
Thousands of contractual, daily rated workers and casual labourers working in various departments are demanding implementation of Minimum Wages Act in Jammu Kashmir since years. In August 2019, when Narendra Modi led BJP government abrogated the special status and bifurcated the state into two UTs, high claims were made for the welfare of the employees.
Jammu based daily Early Times’ December 12 edition’s page-one lead said, ‘In Delhi daily wagers get Rs 807 per day, in J&K they get 225’. It was followed by a subheading, ‘Government in no mood to implement Minimum Wages Act, over 60000 need-based workers suffer silently’. The newspaper reported that more than 60000 daily wagers and casual labours were being denied benefits that come under the ambit of the Minimum Wages Act.
What is the Minimum Wages Act and why do the workers demand its implementation?
As per the Minimum Wages Act, a casual labourer is entitled to get at least Rs 600 per day as his/her wage. In Jammu Kashmir, it is merely 225, Early Times reported.
In the past, these workers have held many protests in Srinagar as well as Jammu demanding the implementation of Minimum Wages Act. It’s pertinent to mention that these labourers do not merely include those who have cleared their 8th, 10th or 12th grade from school, but also the college graduates and postgraduates who are working in various departments as computer operators, computer assistants, electricians and plumbers. They continue to demand the implementation of this Act.
Sheikh Sumia, an employee working in the Higher Education Department as a computer assistant, told The Kashmiriyat, “It is a known fact that the contractual, casual, need basis, seasonal and daily wagers work tirelessly and without any objection. Their work conduct is upto the mark. But the wages they are being paid remain meager as per SRO 460. ₹6750 for non-skilled, ₹10500 for skilled and ₹12000 for the highly skilled are good for nothing. Most of the candidates have higher qualifications than the required. They are graduates, postgraduates or ITI trained.”
“The implementation of the Minimum Wages Act will not end their concerns but it will heal their wounds to some extent of those who have been working in various departments across erstwhile state of Jammu Kashmir,” she added.
Minimum Wages as per the Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) October 2017
The then Jammu Kashmir government had issued a notification under SRO 460 in October 2017, wherein rates were revised under the Minimum Wages Act 1948. Under the revised rates, unskilled labourers were entitled for minimum wages of ₹225, skilled ₹350, while highly skilled were entitled for ₹400 per day, respectively.
“Whereas in terms of clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 5 of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, a notification SRO 73 of 2017 dated 23 02 2017 was published in Government Gazette dated 27 April. 2017 whereby the proposal for revising the minimum rates of wages was issued for inviting objections/suggestions from the persons likely to be affected, within a period of 02 months;” the notification reads.
It further says, “Whereas, in pursuance to the said notification, 3 number of objections/suggestions were received by the department, within the stipulated period of 02 months. The same were placed before the State Advisory Board for consultation and subsequent recommendations of State Advisory Board were taken into the consideration by the Government.”
“Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub- section (2) of section 5 of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 (Act No XI of 1948), the Government of Jammu and Kashmir, after consulting the State Advisory Board constituted under the Act, hereby revise the minimum rates of wages in respect of the scheduled employments shown in Annexure ‘A’ as under,” it adds.
The same SRO notifies that the Minimum wages per Day for unskilled was set as ₹225, ₹350 per day for the skilled, while ₹400 per day for highly skilled. Whereas, for administrative/ministerial/accounts staff ₹325 was set as the Minimum wage per day.
‘P.M. had assured implementation of the Minimum Wages Act after Abrogation of Article 370’
Asif Rather, a contractual employee working in the Higher Education Department told The Kashmiriyat, “Shri Amit Shah and Dr Jitendra Singh made a public announcement in Udhampur last year that there will be no disparity with regard to Wages Act and this has been implemented in the UT of Jammu Kashmir, but we are yet to see the light.”
“It is becoming hard for us to feed our family and provide education to our children. We are giving our best to the department but still, the dispensation at power are least bothered about our well being,” he added.
Another daily wager from the Higher Education Department, Aaqib Ahmad, told The Kashmiriyat, “Daily Wager, Need-Based, Contractual and Local Fund Employees from Jammu Kashmir work day in and out in every government department with dedication and honesty. Despite working shoulder to shoulder with the permanent employees, the salary we are getting is very meagre. There is no concept of equal work equal pay in Jammu Kashmir.”
He added, “It is very unfortunate that despite assurance by the Home Minister in the Parliament about the implementation of Minimum Wages Act, no action has been taken. It is impossible for all of us to cope with the rising inflation with our meagre salaries. Also, there is no regularization policy for us. We are highly qualified youth with professional degrees.”
“Most of us are on the verge of getting overage. We have been recruited through 3-tier examination but still, there is no job policy for us. We are going through mental trauma and depression,” Aqib told The Kashmiriyat.
“The central government gave guidelines for implementation of Minimum Wages Act but unfortunately, the administration of Jammu Kashmir is not implementing the same. We work on low wages despite being highly qualified,” said Unis Malik said, who also works in the Higher Education Department.
Earlier, the daily wagers and casual labourers working in different government departments assembled on 16th December under the banner of Employees Joint Action Committee (EJAC) and staged a protest at Press Enclave, Srinagar. They demanded the regularisation of their services and implementation of Minimum Wages Act in Jammu Kashmir.
President Jammu & Kashmir Dailywager’s/Casual Labour’s Forum and EJAC’s General Secretary, Sajad Parray, told The Kashmiriyat that as per SRO 460 the Casual or contractual employees in Jammu Kashmir were getting ₹225 per day. However, in Delhi, matriculate labourers were getting ₹675 per day, while those above the matric labourers were getting ₹752 per day and the graduates were getting ₹807 per day. “Our daily wagers, casual labours, need base workers and other employees work equal to the regularized employees but they only get ₹225 per day, that too, after the struggle and protests. This is injustice and a human rights violation,” Sajad said.
He told The Kashmiriyat, “The Prime Minister had announced that the Minimum Wages Act will be implemented in Jammu Kashmir after the Articles 370 & 35A were abrogated.”
“PM confessed that we will be regularized. Justice will be delivered. This announcement was made after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 but nothing has been done yet,” he told.
Sajad further told The Kashmiriyat that after more than two years having passed, the PM’s promise remained unfulfilled. “The labourers are still being paid ₹225. This is unjust,” he said.
Chairman Jammu Kashmir RTI Movement, Dr. Raja Muzaffar Bhat, told The Kashmiriyat, “I have already written about it in my previous columns. Very recently, the Health Department constituted a committee that will look into payment of wages to its consolidated and need-based workers as per Minimum Wages Act. The bank security guards in Jammu Kashmir work in very difficult and stressful situations on very meagre wages. Paying them wages in violation of Minimum Wages Act 1948 should be viewed seriously by the government. Without any delay, the Jammu Kashmir Bank must cancel the contract with the private security company or press upon them to pay all the private security guards not less than Rs 10,500 per month.”
“The wages in Jammu Kashmir are less than Delhi,” he told The Kashmiriyat.