Dharmendra Pradhan flags Nalco contract labourers not getting recommended wages

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has sought two of his colleagues' intervention to ensure that the contract labourers of Nalco in the coal mines of Odisha's Angul district get the recommended wages and benefits. In letters to Union Mines and Labour ministers Prahlad Joshi and Bhupender Yadav respectively on Friday, Pradhan alleged that some contractors were violating guidelines and denying the recommended wages.

"Deployment of contract labour in jobs like coal loading and unloading have been prohibited by Section 10 of the Contract Labour Regulation and Abolition Act," Pradhan, the Union Education minister said.

The industries, which are engaged in coal mining in Angul, have been taking exemptions under Section 31 of the act to employ contract labour, said Pradhan, who is from Odisha.


Nalco has also applied for the exemption, which is granted after due consideration by the Central Advisory Contract Labour Board (CACLB), subject to the payment of wages and other benefits as per recommendations of a high-powered committee.

The CACLB has already conducted various meetings with various stakeholders and a report has been submitted to the Labour ministry.

Despite these guidelines, some contractors or mine developers and operators are denying payment of the recommended wages and benefits to their workers engaged in coal mines of the Nalco, Pradhan said.

The minister described it as a matter of grave concern, saying it went against the spirit of labour welfare espoused by the Union government.

Pradhan sought the ministers' personal intervention in notifying the exemption and its strong enforcement by Nalco management.

The central public sector unit should ensure the payment of CACLB-recommended wages and benefits to the contract labourers who are engaged in their coal mines by the contractors, he added. PTI HMB RG