HT Correspondent
SIVASAGAR, Sept 13: United Contractual Workers Union of ONGC in a release here alleges that the ONGC, employer organisation and its registered contractors regularly flout the minimum wages fixed by the Government of India to workers working under them.
Through the release, Purnakanta Buragohain, the general secretary of the union, a sister organisation of the ONGC Purbanchal Employees Association, stated that the employer accepts their bids only after the fulfillment of all the conditions set by the Welfare provisions of the workers, but cares little to implement them and deprive the workers of their dues under many pretexts. The union demands strict implementation of all the provisions of the revised rates of minimum wages of workers engaged in construction or building operations as per the Government of India’s declaration on July 29, 2022, that came into effect from April 1, 2022.
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The union demanded that the ONGC, as the real employer, has a responsibility to look after the working condition of the workers and whether the contractors honour those principles or not.
The revised monthly wage of the workers as per the notification of the chief general manager, HR/ER, ONGC is given in four categories. The minimum wage of an unskilled worker is Rs 446 per day and the monthly minimum wage at Rs 18,675 and with two deductions under EPF (12 p.c.) and ESIC (0.75 p.c.), it should be Rs 16,742. The minimum wage for the semi-skilled category is Rs 21,496 @ Rs 544 a day. With the EPF deduction, the total emolument should be Rs 19,696. The wage of the skilled category is Rs 25,654 per month @ Rs 656 per day. After the EPF deduction, the net payment should be Rs 23,854. The wage of the highly skilled is Rs 29,943 per month @Rs 770 per day. After deduction, it comes to Rs 28,143 per month. In addition, a worker is entitled to a day-and-a-half leave-with-pay facility.
The workers union threatens democratic agitation against the ONGC and the contractors’ farms if they continue to violate the provisions under the amended wages declared by the authority.
