SC directives’ disregard hurts JNU contractual workers

For Moen Ali, a 60-year-old gardener at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), the day begins at dawn. By six in the morning, he is already at work, tending to the sprawling campus gardens. Ali’s love for flowers drives his dedication, and for the past 20 years, he has followed this routine with unwavering commitment.

Unrecognised despite decades of service

However, despite his two decades of service, Ali remains largely unnoticed by the university’s administration. “No one at the administrative block even recognises me,” he says, his voice tinged with resignation. His name doesn’t appear on any official list of employees, a consequence of his contractual employment status.

Each year, his contract is renewed by a third-party agency, and the process continues with little change.

“Every year, people from the company contact us and tell us we have to renew our employment,” Ali explains. “Then, we stand in a queue with other workers, sign a sheet, and return to the same grind, earning exactly what we did the year before.”

For the past three years, Ali’s salary has remained fixed at Rs 15,000. As prices soar and the cost of living continues to rise, his earnings remain frustratingly stagnant.

“Everything gets more expensive by the day, but our salaries don’t change,” he adds. For Ali, life is a little easier now that his sons contribute to the household expenses. But for many others, the struggle continues. Earlier this year, a change in contractors had raised hopes that their pay might finally see an increase. However, aside from the switch in employer, little else changed.

“I was earning Rs 15,000 before the contractor changed, and after the new one took over, we still received the same amount,” said Munna, a worker in the administrative department.

“Funnily enough, we had to pay an additional Rs 1,000 just to confirm our employment with the new contractor and formalise our contracts,” he added.

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Irregular salaries

Sharad Mandal, a technician at JNU, faces a similar predicament to Ali. Despite working a regular eight-hour shift every day on a contract basis, Mandal has yet to secure permanent employment status at the university.

“I work like the permanent staff, sometimes even for longer hours. So why shouldn’t I be given the same recognition?” he questions.

Mandal supports a family of four, including his wife and two children who are just finishing their schooling. Yet, alongside the uncertainty of his job is the issue of irregular salaries.

“Before the contractor changed, we were already behind on payments. My family and I went almost three months without any salary,” he recalls.

“I had to borrow money from my neighbours after all my savings were drained. I didn’t have much to begin with, and I’m still repaying the debt I accumulated back then,” Mandal adds.

For Reshma (name changed), a sanitation worker at JNU, the irregular payments is a harsh reality she believes could be avoided if workers like her were made permanent employees.

Earning Rs 7,000 a month, Reshma hasn’t received her wages for several months now, a situation that leaves her with little choice but to continue despite her regrets about taking up the contractual job.

“Not getting our payment isn’t as unusual as it sounds,” she says. “There are months that pass without any money, but eventually, we receive it in bulk through backlogs. The contractors never consider how we’re supposed to survive during the periods they withhold our payments.”

“Most of us are the only earning members, and then when they do not give us our deserving share, they start complaining about how we are not fulfilling our duties. They need to ask themselves if they would work if they didn’t receive their salaries on time. This would never have happened if we were made permanent employees. It’s not like they are employing anybody else in our position,” she said.

SC rulings on contract workers

The Supreme Court (SC), in a ruling on August 26, stated that a worker employed under contract for a long time should be made permanent, provided a colleague with a similar tenure was already regularised.

This ruling came in the case of a woman employed as a contract sanitation worker in Gujarat’s Posts and Telegraph Department, who went to court after her colleague was made a permanent employee.

The petition, filed on behalf of Ushaben Joshi, resulted in the court ordering her regularisation. The court stated, “The respondents are directed to treat the appellant at par with Smt. KM Vaghela and shall pass the order of regularisation/ appointment as MTS in favour of the appellant, on similar terms as was done in the case of Smt. KM Vaghela.”

Ushaben was entitled to all benefits from the date her colleague was made permanent.

A similar judgement came earlier in March when the top court criticised Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd, a subsidiary of Coal India, for not regularising its contract workers.

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The court ruled that workers doing regular work must be treated equally with permanent employees. In this case, 19 contract workers were ordered to receive back wages like their permanent colleagues, with payments dating back to 2002.

Despite these rulings, JNU still employs a large number of contract workers who await regularisation, showing that the effects of these SC decisions have yet to reach the university.

Patriot contacted JNU for a response on the regularisation of its employees. However, the university registrar, Ravikesh, refused to comment.