Sri Vijaya Puram, October 29: The CITU Andaman & Nicobar State Committee has opposed the outsourcing of regular nature of work under the Andaman & Nicobar Administration. In a letter sent to the Chief Secretary, A & N Administration, B. Chandrachoodan, General Secretary, CITU State Committee, has said that the Andaman & Nicobar Administration has started outsourcing regular nature of work in the last three years, dispensing with the practice of directly engaging workers on a casual or contract basis. The CITU General Secretary further stated in the letter that almost all the departments under the Administration have switched over to the practice of outsourcing manpower for regular nature of work and central scheme-based work.
CITU brought to the notice of the Chief Secretary that during the last three years, it has been observed that there have been gross violations of labour laws by the contractors who have been assigned the outsourcing work, besides large-scale exploitation of workers. Workers are not being paid the wages fixed by the Labour Commissioner, though the departments pay the wages to the contractors. Workers are not being allowed to avail leave, they are being forced to perform duties for more than 8 hours, etc. The CITU General Secretary further said that workers are put at the mercy of the contractors, who can remove any worker from service on any ground. The Labour Department has proved to be an utter failure in controlling these contractors and taking any action on the labour violations.
CITU observed that due to the outsourcing of regular nature of work to contractors, the Administration is spending more money than the payment made to directly recruited workers. 5% to 10% of the total amount involved in the outsourcing work is charged as commission by the contractor, which varies from department to department and depends upon the competition among the bidders. CITU is of the opinion that, being a welfare state, it is the responsibility of the government to ensure the well-being of workers, exploitation-free working conditions and all other statutory benefits to the workers. Outsourcing regular nature of work will defeat this goal, as the workers will always be denied various benefits and will always be at the mercy of the contractors. Outsourcing government work leads to the denial of a life with dignity to the educated youth in the islands.
CITU urged the Chief Secretary to have a re-look at the present policy of outsourcing regular nature of government work and take steps to recruit workers directly through the departments concerned, in order to avoid exploitation of workers and to provide jobs to the unemployed youth, besides ensuring their dignified lives.
