The Left Parties? opposition to the employment of contract workers is against what states ruled by them practice. West Bengal and Kerala employ more contract workers in enterprises they own than the private sector does in these states.
In West Bengal, of a total number of workers employed in state-owned ventures, about a fifth are contract workers (19.42%), while in the private sector, the percentage is 13.69%. The data, quoted by the government in a reply to Parliament, is based on the latest Annual Survey of Industries.
The data for Kerala is modest, but the percentage of contract workers in state-run companies is 7.71%?more than the 5.39% in the state?s private sector.
This comes as a surprise as the percentage of contract workers in the two states is much higher compared with more industrialised states like Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, or Tamil Nadu.
Even though industry captains have reiterated that such flexibility is essential to keep the costs of production in sync with the needs of the market, the Left parties have blocked all attempts to amend the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970, to bring about the required changes. They have argued that hiring of contract labour will reduce the bargaining power of workers. This is because, the Left parties say, the companies can easily retrench contract workers and keep from them the benefits permanent workers enjoy in an industrial establishment.
Industry has instead used the more costly alternative of the voluntary separation scheme to terminate employees right through the last decade and even in the present one. The previous Economic Survey (2006-07), too, pointed out that, by making employment conditions stiffer, industry had gravitated to more capital-intensive methods. In a labour-rich country like India, the implication for engaging labour has been quite adverse.
Maharashtra has 6.75% as contract labourers against the private sector?s 25.32%. In Andhra Pradesh, the percentage in the public sector is 6.84% against the private sector?s 51.77%. In Tamil Nadu, the percentage is 8.58% against the private sector?s 11.35%.