BMS Zonal organising secretary Pawan Kumar has stressed the need to pay urgent attention to “the outsourcing small/little jobs” mainly to lady workers and their kids at homes like rakhi making, bindi making, certain items in readymade garments etc. that they are somewhat a neglected lot.
This kind of outsourcing is not confined to a particular part of the country rather is spread in all the states. Crores of such “Ghar Khata Mazdoors” are engaged in such jobs. This practice is not prevalent only in cottage or small scale industries big national and multinational companies have also resorted to this practice. We all know that these workers are not covered by any labour laws. Even labour departments both at state and central level have not taken any cognizance of it.
Replying to a query if the BMS and other TUs have ever taken up the cause of such exploited workers, the BMS leader said that BMS in their Jalgaon All India Conference in February, 2011 called upon its workers to organise the workers in unorganised sector that includes ‘Ghar Khata Mazdoors’ also. They work on contract rate or target just as Rakhi Making, Garment Stiching and so many other things. BMS has succeeded in its mission to a great extent. It has already secured certain facilities for such workers.
When asked if TUs have some data on how many workers might be engaged in these jobs, Pawanji said that Govt. of India has not made any survey or study in this particular sector. So we can only have a rough assessment that won’t serve the purpose. The job should be entrusted to National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO). BMS, however feels that crores of workers might be engaged in this sector, Govt. must put NSSO on the job to ascertain their number and ensure wages and other facilities like medical facilities, P.F., Education for children and other labour welfare schemes atleast at par with the employees of the principal employer.
BMS has already achieved some of these facilities for workers in the unorganised sector like Beedi mazdoors, Construction workers, Anganwadi workers etc.
Ghar Khata Mazdoor work is widely scattered and so more difficult to be organised. So it requires more and urgent attention, he said.
