TIRUNELVELI: This year, the water crisis in Tamil Nadu has hit a new low. Even as people in various parts of the State have come to the streets demanding water, the State has relied on the labourers of the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) board to quench the thirst of 4.23 crore people in nine corporations, 66 municipalities, 347 town panchayats and 48,948 rural habitations.
These workers ensure a supply of an average of 1,869 million litres of water daily through 556 Combined Water Supply Schemes (CWSS) according to the Policy Note 2019 - 2020 of Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department. However, the backbone of the CWSS is made up of 5000 labourers of which half are contract labourers who are overworked, underpaid and rarely paid on time.
Low and late wages, no safety
Express spoke to TWAD’s contract labourers working in various CWSS of Tirunelveli, Sivaganga, Namakkal and The Nilgiris discovered that they were often given the short shrift by both TWAD and contractors. These workers are responsible for maintaining electrical motors and valves, checking the pipeline system for any leak, or damage. They keep the pump houses neat and tidy and even have to water the plants and trees there.
“We ensure that the village and town panchayats get the correct amount of water. We collect the payments from the panchayats. If there is an electrical problem, we climb the transformer and resolve the issue with approval from the Electricity Department,” explained one labourer. While they are expected to work 12 hours a day, they lack benefits that permanent employees get -- including a day off, paid and casual leave. Worse, they have to spend their own money to do the government’s work.
“We are not provided a travel or fuel allowance, so we spend at least Rs 1000 every month on fuel to check for pipeline leaks. We cannot avail of dearness allowances. And often we are not even paid on time,” one labourer said. Interestingly, while there is dispute redressal mechanism to resolve issues between contractors and TWAD board, no such mechanism exists for the labourers, he said.
“The Executive Engineers should verify whether the labours are paid statutory wages by the contractors as per the agreement. If the contractors fail to do so, the board can recover it from the contractor’s dues, monthly running bills or assets. But despite several complaints to all senior officials, including the MD, none of us get the statutory pay,” said the labourer.
What this means is that even those with over 15 years of experience are being paid between Rs 166 to Rs 206 per day even though the standard schedule of rates released by the TWAD board for 2017 -18 fixed the daily wage from Rs 350 to Rs 612. One labourer employed under Tirunelveli’s CWSS joined as an electrician in 2002 and still gets only `6,000 a month in hand Workers said they were not paid any bonus nor were they provided with any safety gear.
A worker in Manur scheme was reportedly electrocuted a few months ago. “As the contractor had not taken out any risk insurance policy as assured in the agreement, the family of the deceased was not provided any compensation,” a labourer said. Meanwhile, even other basics are lacking, complained the labourers. One man employed at a Namakkal CWSS said the TWAD board had not even constructed a toilet for the labourers working round-the-clock in the pump houses.
According to one labourer from the Ainthamkattalai CWSS, all these irregularities were brought to the attention of C N Maheswaran, Managing Director of TWAD board. Maheswaran reportedly formed a team of officials on February 27 to look into the issues, including those related to wage.
“They submitted a report to the MD. When we asked to see the report, we were refused. We have lost our youth to the pump houses and still get only Rs 6,000 a month. How can we run our families with this salary?” the labourer lamented.
Court says yes, State says no
Seeing a permanent job as the way out, a section of labourers, with over 15 years of experience, in Tirunelveli district went to labour court demanding their jobs be made permanent. The labour court ruled in their favour but the State government challenged the order at the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court. The HC dismissed the government’s petition in December 2018, and directed the government to make their jobs permanent with monetary benefits from April 24, 2015.
“The labourers had put in 480 days of service in 24 consecutive calendar months,” the Court noted. The State, however, has again appealed the order. “Believing I will be made a permanent employee, I have been working in a pump house for the past 14 years. I am fed up with these appeals from officials who know we are eligible for permanent status,” said a labourer of Manur CWSS.
Who is blame? Contractors or the government?
M Balakumar, State President of Central Organisation of TWAD Board Employees attached with CITU, alleged that over Rs 1 crore that ought to be paid to the labourers was being swindled. “The contractors, in their agreements, show that they are employing 6,000 to 7,000 labourers but they have employed only about 2,500 labourers. They get wages for about 7,000 employees from the government and they pay out the monthly wages in cash to cover their tracks,” he alleged.
Contractors, however, said that they were at the mercy of the government.
According to Selva Sankar, district treasurer of the Tamil Nadu TWAD Board Contractors Welfare Association, delayed bill clearance and ignoring the “contractor profit” clause in the agreements were the reason for the low wages paid to the labourers. “Though we pay labourers every month and spend lakhs as income tax, GST, ESI and EPF, the State government takes between one and two-and-a-half years to make payments. The TWAD board is paying to subsidise drinking water for local bodies, which struggle to pay dues. We have to wait till the local bodies pay,” he added.
He believed that an increase in budget allocation for the TWAD board and making the contract labourers permanent employees was the solution. “If we take a tender for Rs 100, the TWAD board expects us to spend the entire amount on labourers and for purchasing materials for maintenance. Profit for the contractor should have been fixed and included in the agreement,” he argued.
TWAD board MD, Maheswaran, however, said that all these issues would be resolved in a month. “We have called for a fresh tender, in which various demands of the labourers have been fulfilled, through an agreement. If the contractors do not follow the provisions of labour laws, they will be terminated. I have instructed higher officials to educate the engineers and contractors about the new agreement. The labourers will hereafter get the wage they are entitled to,” he said.
Agreement
The agreement is made on a stamp paper between the contractor and the Chief Engineer of TWAD of the concerned region before handing over the rights of outsourcing of operation and maintenance of CWSS for the period of three years. The agreement talks about the duties of officials, contractors and labours.
List of 20 labour welfare laws to be followed by the contractor and TWAD officials, equipment and tools to be made available in each pumping station, safety measures to be adhered, payment method to the contractors and penalty for non-compliance to the schedule of work and mandatory duties are defined in the agreement.
Can only ask them to pay ‘reasonable’ wages: Official
While the TWAD board engineers are expected to ensure that the contractors are paying out wages properly, not all were doing so. When asked about the issue, Murugesan, Superintending Engineer of TWAD board, Tirunelveli, said he would advise the contractors to pay the workers a “reasonable” wage. Asked if the engineers were ensuring that wages were being paid as per the schedule of rates, he said his department had nothing to do with that. “I cannot take any action against contractors. I will inform the contractors to pay a “reasonable” wage,” he said, not clarifying if a “reasonable” wage was the wage they were entitled to.