The hard work of the 276 workers who helped the famous Madurai Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple bag the ‘Swachh Iconic Place’ award from the Central government, was recognised recently. However, these workers, mostly women, who are the sole breadwinners of their families, are not paid as per the minimum wages fixed by the government, they claim.
A worker said she was paid ₹5,500 a month by her contractor. “With this money, I could buy only some vegetables and rice,” she says.
Most of the workers have been hired on a temporary basis under the ‘non-scheduled employees’ category and receive daily wages.
Inspector of Labour S. P. Shanthi says the yearly increment is reflected in the Dearness Allowance (DA) component.
As on date, the labourers have been receiving ₹226 per day, including 12% allocated for Employee Provident Fund (EPF) and 1.5% for Employees’ State Insurance (ESI). Their monthly salary credited to their account is
₹ 6,750.
However, according to an order issued by Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao, the amount to be paid to the employees under the newly-drawn minimum wage structure is ₹244 per day, effective April 2017.
With the inclusion of EPF and ESI, they should receive ₹7,360 -₹610 more than what they are receiving now.
Executive Officer of the temple N. Natarajan said tenders for new temple contractors were floated in July each year. The contractor was fixed and revised salaries along with arrears were to be paid by August. “Since this has not been done, an enquiry will be made and passbooks of the employees scrutinised,” he said.