The structure of feudal legacy and slavery in employment still exists in spite of laws to establish freedom and dignity in employment. Odisha witnesses a situation where international capital has already reached villages but the feudal system in employment has not yet changed.
International capital has not been helping to democratise the employment situation. The labourers belonging to marginalized communities in backward region are more prone to manmade inhuman exploitation. Unemployment and migration problems are reflection of State’s economic policy and culmination of historical unequal social and political structure and resource marginalization process. labour issues have a close link with the present governance and socioeconomic policy of the State. The issue of migrant labourers is very much linked to discrimination, exploitation and denial of basic human rights to live a life of dignity without fear and exploitation.
If the State does not care for its productive forces in terms of protecting them from exploitation, planning their employment, skill up-gradation, social security then it will affect production and growth of the State. It has serious implication on the marginalized sections life and their livelihood in particular and the overall economy of the State in general.
The Odia labourers are found in Raipur, Assam, Kolkata, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Delhi, Mumbai, Punjab, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh etc. They do all manual jobs without working hours, minimum wage and stay in most inhuman condition with family, women and children and suffer all kinds of subjugation, indignity and humiliation. Non utilization of rural labour force made the State unproductive and dependant because the rural labourers constitute about one third of the total population of the State and almost more than 90 per cent are in unorganized sector. They are rural poor, landless agricultural labourers, homestead less and agricultural land less, Dalit, Adivasi and most backward communities who have been dependant on physical labour of traditional skills and natural resources for survival.
As per 2001 Census, Odisha has 21 lakh agricultural labourers. Ganjam district has highest number of agricultural labourers as well as cultivators with high concentration of SC population of the State. Patients affected by AIDS in Ganjam district also stand highest (6,694 which is 32.3 per cent) out of total 16,733AIDS patients in the State.
The cost of living for agricultural labourers in Odisha is one of the lowest in the country as their wages are also the lowest. There has been no attempt to organise these workers to raise their bargaining power by any political party or trade union with the exception of a few invisible micro attempts. The peasant movements in demand of supportive price to farmers for paddy never raise the issue of agricultural labouers though they are part of the production process.
They have never been integrated to the strategy of our overall agriculture development agenda. They face all forms of discrimination and indignity in employment. Women labourers face wage discrimination though they do sowing, transplanting, weeding, hoeing, harvesting and storing of grains etc.
Issues of sexual harassment at workplace by the dominant land lords and contractors in rural areas also are very often highlighted in media. labourers of SC & ST communities face caste and ethnic based discrimination and practices of untouchability in villages. Still, there are inhuman practices like bonded labour, child labour, caste-based occupations, scavenger and many other workers are engaged in unsafe occupations in violation of human rights and labour laws.
Rural labourers do not have employment throughout the year. They got about six month of employment in a year and in the absence of formal credit delivery system for poor in rural areas, they take informal advance credit from money lenders, middlemen and contractors to manage their livelihood for rest of the months. The low wage they get as agricultural labourer is insufficient to meet even their basic needs. They borrow in distress to meet numerous festivals expenses in each season. Also borrow in distress during sickness for health care, education of children, marriage, death and birth rituals, for family and friends. Alcoholism and domestic violence makes them more venerable to fall into the traps of local labour contractors. There are laws like Interstate Migrant Workmen (Regulation of employment and Social conditions)Act 1979, Minimum Wage Act, 1948 , Bonded labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, Child labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, Equal Remuneration Act, 1976, The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry latrine (prohibition) Act 1993, The Sexual Harassment of Women at Work place(prevention, prohibition and redressal)Act, 2013, The SC and ST(POA) Act-1989 , Section 3 (1) (vi) etc which prohibit forced employment of SC and ST communities and protect women and children from physical and mental exploitation. The Unorganized Sector Workers Social Security Act, 2008 and NREG Act, 2005 had focused more on employment and social security of rural labourers.
Why these said laws are not being implemented in true spirit by the agencies build for this purposeIJ
The failure of law and order, labour and police department and non implementation of programmes by the Panchyatiraj department and lack of awareness among rural poor about their basic human rights are the major reason of distress migration. Any person working anywhere in the country needs to be protected as a human being and all his/her rights as a labourer should be respected.
The State as the protector and law enforcement agency should be held responsible for non compliance with the Constitutional mandate. The panchyatiraj institutions, local police, labour department officials, ST and SC Development department, Women and Child Development department officials should combindly make interventions as a majority of workers are rural poor, SC, ST, women and children, but there is lack of interdepartmental coordination and combined concentrated effort within the Government. The local trade unions, SC, ST and wome organizations should have spread political and human rights education among labourers with adequate information about the Government policy and protective laws and employment generating programmes by which the labourers can make use of it. labour literacy and human rights education is very important to motivate the labourers towards a productive culture with respect for human being and dignity of labour.
Odisha’s 55.81 lakh households were issued job cards in 2010-11, in which only 13.94 lakh households were provided employment. Out of which only 82,000 household were provided only 100 days of employment. On an average 40 days of employment were provided to willing household. The share of employment of SC and ST households and others amounted to 19 per cent and 36 and 45 per cent, respectively.
Complaints of use of machine and mortgage/renting of Job cards by official in charge and making bills in the name of card holders by paying a meager portion to make it legalize in the eyes of law.
The Economic Survey report of the State Government shows a very poor performance of the State Government in implementation of employment generating programmes. The most popular employment generating programme like MGNREGS has not even provided 100 days of employment to 2 per cent of the total card holders. The agriculture sector still runs in the traditional style without irrigation, insurance and fair price of agro products.
State investment in land development, irrigation, electricity, rural connectivity, marketing and basic infrastructural development of the rural areas are very essential. The agricultural labourers in farms can be engaged in agriculture and forest produce based cooperatives, small industries, consumer good production of mass nature, weaving, leather work, milk, egg, meat, fish, vegetables, fruits need for domestic consumption. The food import in State can be minimized. The school children can be provided milk, vegetable and egg in MDM from local market. The Government can buy all these produces for domestic consumption. The need for social sector investment in rural areas in health, education and sanitation to change the quality of life and reduce the urban rural gap in social sector facilities is very much required. Gandhi suggested for agricultural development, small and cottage industry, Khadi, diary for the eradication of poverty of Odisha. Dr Ambedkar in his historical writing about Odisha suggested utilization of its natural resources, water, minerals and forest produces. He suggested for building dams and reservoirs to produce electricity to run factories and use water resources in 80,000 sqkm of the Mahanadi, Brahmani and Baitarani delta.
(The writer is a rights activist who can be reached at email- ojaabbsr@gmailcom)