Concerns with Contractual Work in India

What is the issue?

Sanitation workers in India represent a wider phenomenon of exploitative contractual work in the country.

What happened recently?

• Kishan Lal, 37, a sanitation worker in contract, died inside an underground drain in the nation’s capital.
• When he did not come out, the police and fire department were called but they could not find him.
• The National Disaster Response Force then found his body after an 8-hour search.
• Newspapers reported asphyxiation as the cause of death but notably he had no safety kit with him.

How has contract working evolved?

• The term 'contract worker' was earlier used only in the context of private sector employment as the government alone gave ‘permanent’ appointments.
• But economic reforms introduced under the 1991 liberalisation changed this condition.
• From the early 1990s, government jobs could also be given on contract.
• 'Contract worker' is now a term widely attributed to many, the scope of which has greatly expanded over recent decades.
• But depending on who the contractor is, there could be vast differences in the experience of work under a contract.

What is the caste-connect in sanitation?

• Among sanitation workers, thousands in each major city are serving on contract.
• Observations reveal a strong relation between caste and contract work in the sphere of sanitation as most of them belong to the Scheduled Caste (SC) category.
• Surveys indicate a small proportion of other castes in permanent sanitation staff.
• But it is reported that these non-SC permanent functionaries often get proxy workers from SC backgrounds to do the actual work.

What leads to their exploitation?

• Terms of contract - In the case of sanitation, contract work means gross vulnerability and exploitation.
• The contracts are loosely-worded and the terms offer few safeguards for the workers.
• So a contractor feels free to enhance his own share of the contract with impunity, by taking away the worker’s share.
• Safety norms - The government in the case of sanitation is often the municipality.
• It shows little sustained interest in imposing stringent norms for provision of equipment, including those for safety, necessary for sewer cleaning.
• Moreover, sanitation workers on contract work for small-time contractors who have absolutely no idea of the worker's role.
• So the contractor takes the liberty to exploit the worker, defying all barriers and checks for worker's safety.

• Training - Sanitation involves complex work, requiring both knowledge and training; but it is not recognised by the contractors.
• The bond that exists between caste and sanitation do not allow them to acknowledge the need for training.

What are the general concerns in contractual working?

• Regulations - There are shortfalls in government playing the supposed role of regulating the functioning of the contracts.
• It does not work out the details for different sectors and departments.
• Government has been following the general policy of privatisation as a matter of faith, in sanitation sector too.

• Quality - With lack of proper regulation, contractual working has made an impact on the quality of services.
• This is particularly worrying in areas directly related to welfare such as sanitation, health and education.
• Even in functions such as data gathering, which are crucial for economic planning and decisions, the contractual workforce has proved detrimental to quality.
• Little attempt has been made to study how contractual work has affected reliability in the postal services, railways and accounts.

Why does it remain substandard?

• The service conditions of contract workers are totally different from those serving as permanent staff, but they are expected to deliver higher quality.
• It has become evident that contractual work in professions such as teaching discourages motivation to improve one’s performance.
• It's because contractual functionaries see no definite prospect of a career or future in the same profession.
• Also, their wage is much too small to sustain the growth of substantial professional commitment.
• So they continue to perform below the standards and the quality remains poor.
• All these call for the government to make a fresh review of the working of the contractual system and bring in appropriate policy changes.

Source: The Hindu