HC abolishes contract labour system in BMC dept

MUMBAI, AUG 13: In a landmark judgement, the Bombay High Court today abolished the contract labour system carried on by the Brihanmumbai ...

MUMBAI, AUG 13: In a landmark judgement, the Bombay High Court today abolished the contract labour system carried on by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC in the solid waste management department. The BMC will henceforth no longer be able to contract lorries along with four workers, as was the norm, to collect and dump garbage and debris in the dumping ground from various points in the city as it had been doing for the past 15 years.

The division bench of Justice M B Ghodeswar and Justice B N Srikrishna did not just stop at that and holding that the BMC8217;s contract system was a 8220;fit case for abolition,8221; also directed that BMC will 8220;forthwith8221; absorb 782 such contract workers who are members of the petitioner union, the Kachra Vahatuk Shramik Sangh 8212; and who have been identified and listed in the registers of the commissioner of labour.

However, since the advocate D H Mehta, counsel for BMC asked for a stay to be able to move Supreme Court, the order has been stayed for six weeks. Thedirections on employment of the 782 workers, though, will remain but on a daily wage of Rs 100 without prejudice to the rights of both parties till the case is disposed off in SC.

The long-pending order 8212; since the case had been heard at least three weeks ago 8212; was welcomed by the KVSS which distributed sweets among its workers who had gathered for deliverance of the judgement. Ever since the last contracts had expired in June this year, the workers have been without work and the order is expected to bring some relief into their lives.

They have been working for years now, at a daily wage of Rs 90 per day, not paid on holidays, not given public holidays, refused any bonus or ex-gratia as well as the usual uniforms, gloves, gumboots that are given to the other BMC workers working in the same department doing the same work.

In fact, in their judgement, the division bench accepted almost all the contentions put forward by counsel for the KVSS, Colin Gonsalves, who pointed out that BMC has beencontracting the work illegally for the past 15 years without having even a registration of contract as a principal employer.

The bench also based their judgement on the letters and orders of various officials in BMC where the then chairman of the standing committee and present Mayor Hareshwar Patil had written against the contract system and the inhuman treatment meted out to them, the state government, when Labour Minister Shabir Sheikh in September 1998 directed BMC to abolish the contract system and pay equal wages to the workers.

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8220;Why did the state government not order BMC to abolish contract labour in view of these facts? We were informed that it was on account of the election code of conduct. In our view, the fate of the workers cannot be left hanging on the sweet process of the BMC and the state government and it is our responsibility to see they are given the relief they are entitled to,8221; said Justice Srikrishna who dictated the order.

The bench also rejected the 8220;fine and subtledistinction8221; that the BMC counsel tried to draw between 8220;debris collection and garbage collection.8221; According to Mehta, the contract workers collected debris that was not the obligatory duty of BMC. 8220;All the material before us points out that the BMC has been carrying out the removal of garbage under the garb of debris8230;8221;, the bench noted.

8220;That the BMC has been able to do so for the past 15 years without even following the Contract Labour Act, is incredible,8221; the bench held.