Canny contractors loot their labour

For four years, Sundar Dhusar, a widow from a tribal belt in Dahanu, 114km from Mumbai, has been fighting for compensation after her labourer husband died in a quarry accident. The unlettered woman knows little about what the state awards as compensation in death cases, but with help from Kashtakari Sanghatna, an NGO working for tribals, she has approached the labour court.

Activists working in tribal belts in Thane say cases of denial of compensation and minimum wages are common under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA). It was implemented to ensure employment, fair wages and poverty alleviation, but is being abused, activists say.  “Feudalism still prevails here; only, it has changed hands,” said advocate Pradip Prabhu of the NGO, which represents landless and marginal farmers from tribal belts of Maharashtra.

In Dahanu, people have only two sources of livelihood – seasonal farming and migrant labour. “With no minimum wages, migrant labourers are exploited under MGNREGA,” said Shiraz Prabhu, who runs Kashtakari Sanghatna.

She said that fly-by-night contractors short-change labourers by promising them a minimum weekly wage and lump sum payable at the end of the project, but vanish when the project folds up.

Activists have been making workers aware of their rights and armed with this, tribals often insist on the contractor’s phone number. “To beat this, contractors leave temporary numbers which become invalid after the project ends. Often, it turns out that the contract was for a big company and/or government agency through MGNREGA,” Shiraz said.

In Tilonda village, women have been  paid Rs25 daily instead of the minimum wage of Rs250 under MGNREGA. Yamini Sukhade, a Warli, said. “Women must fight for their rights as they’re often paid lesser than men,” she said.

Thane district collector P Velrasu, however, refuted the allegations and said, “Sub-contractors and middlemen are not allowed in this scheme. The money goes to the labourer’s account,” adding that the problem could be of a delay in payment.