Workers go hungry as TN govt’s wage order remains dead letter

Shanmughasundaram.J@timesgroup.com

Chennai:13.04.3030

It has been three weeks since the lockdown kicked in, but 45-year-old Saravanan of Sivakasi is yet to get his wages for the period though the government has urged all industries to pay wages to their employees for the lockdown period. Not just Saravanan, thousands of workers in the unorganised sector face an uncertain future as any extension of lockdown would mean losing wages and their already precarious livelihood.

Saravanan and his wife Vasugi, who work at a firecracker unit in Sivakasi, together earn ₹3,500 per week. It covers their basic expenses for the week. The unprecedented lockdown, however, has brought this routine to a standstill.

“We are fighting to stave off starvation with ration rice. It is of poor quality; we have no choice,” said Saravanan of Viswanathapuram, father of two children, aged 16 and 13. Saravanan, however, reckons there are other villagers who are even more worse-off. Nearly 93% of TN workforce, mostly contract labourers, face a similar plight, say trade unions.

Let 16 sectors resume ops: Industry dept

The department of promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) has sought opening up 16 segments — from food and beverages to auto, steel and cement to plastics, paints and exports — where production has halted due to the lockdown, while suggesting a protocol that industries could follow once factories are back in operation. Government sources, however, cautioned that it was merely a suggestion and there was no decision to end the lockdown.

‘Govt dole of ₹1,000 and groceries not sufficient to sustain lockdown ’

Siva, a mason, of Vellore district’s Sumaithangi village echoed a similar plight. For daily wage workers like him, the lockdown was an unexpected blow as it deprived him and his family of ₹500 that they earned in a day. “It is like being caught in a quicksand. We don’t know when we will sink and we are scared of the spiralling cost of essential commodities,” he said.

The lockdown might be a measure to prevent and control Covid-19. But in the process, many like Saravanan and Siva, dependent on daily or weekly wages – have not only lost their livelihood but are also struggling to make ends meet. While the government announced a dole of ₹1,000 and a hamper of 15kg of rice, 1kg dal and1kg oil, the ground reality is grim. The state has not taken efforts to ensure the employer pay wages for their workforce for the lockdown period.

Chairman of CREDAI’s Tamil Nadu unit S Sridharan said they have been providing food, accommodation and medical care to workers. The contractors, he said, should take care of the workers’ wages during the lockdown. Nearly 93% of the workforce in the state is made up of contract labourers, mostly guest workers. Though the lockdown entered the third week, authorities have not taken firm measures to help them get a decent amount of money to lead a dignified life during the lockdown period, said trade union members.

“The government’s aid of ₹1,000 is not sufficient. It should be enhanced to ₹5,000 for all registered and unregistered members of the welfare boards,” said CITU’s state acting general secretary S Kannan.

The principal employers in the Tirupur textile cluster, Asia’s biggest textile hub Coimbatore and neighbouring Erode district have not paid their contractor workers. They are asking the government to pay through ESI and PF money. “The employers have categorically told district collector that they will not pay up. If the government plays a waiting game, it will only harm the daily wage workers,” said Tirupur CITU general secretary G Sampath.