Delhi dialogue panel readies draft policy on hiring contract labour

“When we looked into this sector, we were shocked to find the gaping loopholes in their pay and perks. We not only found rampant corruption in the hiring system but also within the government machinery put in place by the previous Congress and BJP governments. Hence we decided to completely revamp the entire process,” said DDC vice-chairman Ashish Khetan.

“The new policy charts out a standard hiring system and will bring in transparency and accountability. The draft has been circulated internally. Once we have responses from within the government, we will make it public and invite objections and suggestions.”

The policy lays down compulsory payment of minimum wages, inclusion of Employee’s State Insurance and provident fund and has put several riders on the bidding process.

“In previous instances, we found that though the minimum wages would add up to a higher amount, the contractor would quote a lower bid and bag the contract. How can this even be possible? It clearly points to exploitation of contractual staff because if the contractor agrees for a lower bid it means he would compromise on the payments. To completely do away with this possibility, we have proposed to not even consider such bids,” said Khetan.

“The policy makes it mandatory to make all money transfers electronic. This is the only way to ensure transparency in the system,” he added.

The government will also cut down the number of windows for approvals. In case of delay in disbursal of salaries, the policy will have a provision to penalise offending government officials or contractors.

“For us minimum wages means minimum living wages that cover all basic needs of an employee and allow him to live a life of dignity. Following the passage of the Minimum Wages (Delhi) Amendment Bill, the AAP government became the first to implement the directives of the Supreme Court on minimum wages in 1992. Over 20 years later we did what previous governments should have long ago done,” Khetan added.