Dr Asif Shaikh, former chairperson of the Maharashtra State Minimum Wages Advisory Committee, has sought the abolition of contract system of hiring manpower and instead seeks direct employment to the various departments in government and semi-government agencies, including at zilla parishads, panchayat samithis, municipal councils, and corporations across the state.
Shaikh, who is also a former corporator and leader of opposition in the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC), met NCP chief-Sharad Pawar on Thursday and handed over a memorandum in this context.
“The contractual system has turned out to be unjust for employees in most government agencies. Apart from getting trimmed payments, much lower than the prescribed minimum wages and exploitation, the outsourced employees are also deprived of timely wages, ESIC, Provident Fund and medical benefits in most of the cases. The government and semi-government agencies can organize walk-in interviews for recruiting technical and technical staff and employ them directly on a contractual basis. This will not only eliminate cuts and exploitation but the entire wage amount will directly go into the hands of employees.” said Dr Shaikh while adding that the NCP chief had assured to forward his suggestion to the concerned ministry in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
Hired by agencies like the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) and other civic bodies across the state, the private contractors who deploy this temporary workforce are manpower suppliers who are given the job of engaging employees through public tenders that are floated on an annual basis.
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