By Dr. Gyan Pathak
Dearness allowance of workers, retirement benefits, and even death gratuity among other benefits have been put on hold in India. The reason being the Union Government led by PM Narendra Modi did not release the All India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (AICPI-IW) since February 2024, from the eve of the Lok Sabha election 2024. The reason has not been provided yet.
Labour Bureau of India, which is responsible for compiling and releasing the AICPI-IW figures has not released it for the months of February and March without forwarding any explanation for the delay.
“Due to this inordinate delay, the employees from the central public sector, including banks are losing their legitimate dearness allowance (DA) to be announced in the month of April, after taking the average of CPI – IW for the past three months, namely – December, January and February. It is essential to calculate the DA, so as to contain the continuous price erosion in the real wage rate due to ever increasing prices of essential commodities,” said the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) in a letter to Union Minister of Labour and Employment requesting him to intervene in the matter.
“The All India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers is one of the very important labour statistics as it is indispensable for the regulation of wages and dearness allowance for millions of workers and employees in the country. These indices are also used to measure inflation and other policy formulations,” CITU stated in the letter.
The last AICPI-IW figures were released on February 19 for the month of January. It is generally released on the last working day of every month, so that the workers get their allowance in time. However, the release of the figures has been stopped.
It has also impacted workers in various way. For example, the retirement fund organisation Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has not increased the retirement and death gratuity for workers in the government and organised sector.
In March 2024, the Union Government had, in absence of the figures, raised the Dearness Relief (DR) and Dearness Allowance (DA) by 4 per cent but kept the order in abeyance with immediate effect. The maximum retirement benefit and death benefit were increased by the EPFO last month by 25 per cent from Rs20 lakh to Rs25 lakh, as per the order on April 30.
However, only a week after this order on May 7, the EPFO in another circular said that the gratuity augmentation due to the rise in DA has been put on hold. This new order has been made effective immediately, but it is strange that the rationale of the decision is yet to come from the EPFO or the Union Government. The May 7 circular read, “The circular number HRD-1/8/2024/Misc-Circulars-Part(1)/1004 dated 30.4.2024 is kept in abeyance with immediate effect.”
The order of the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment dated April 30, 2024, which was put on hold the very next week read, “As per para 6.2 of the OM no. 38/3712016-P&PW(A)(1) dated 04.08.2016 issued by Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Government of India, the maximum limit of Retirement gratuity and death gratuity shall be increased by 25% whenever the dearness allowance rises by 50% of the basic pay. Accordingly, the maximum limit of Retirement gratuity and death gratuity shall be increased by 25% to Rs. 25 Lakh from existing Rs 20 Lakh on account of revision of Dearness Allowance payable to Central Government Employees to 50 per cent of the basic pay w.e.f 1.01.2024, subject to other conditions mentioned in the DOP&PWOM dated 04.08.2016.”
It should also be noted that non-release of figures of the AICPI-IW has also adversely impacted other allowances too, such as Children’s Education Allowance (CEA) and the Hostel Subsidy, automatically received following any hike on the Dearness Allowance for wards of employees and retirees.
The delay in AICPI-IW data and related benefits to workers is only one of the numerous examples of the Modi government’s non-release of data related to workers. Union Government never releases real time data on labour and employment situation in the country. For urban areas its is always delayed by three months, and for rural areas data is released on yearly basis, which keeps the people in dark about the truth relating to unemployment and joblessness.
Central Trade Unions (CTUs) have criticised this approach of the Modi government, to put on hold even the DA related benefits for the workers, and said it is an example of how workers are suffering neglect and apathy in the last 10 years of his rule.
CTUs are presently campaigning among workers to defeat PM Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha election, alleging that his policies are anti-labour and pro-corporate. They have been even agitating against PM Modi’s four controversial labour codes which he got passed by the Parliament of India in 2019-20 for the last four years. They say that if PM Modi will return to power for the third term, he would implement these anti-labour codes within months, which would be harbinger of economic slavery of the workers. CTUs have also been agitating against privatisation, and the government’s effort to suppression of trade unionism in the country.
CTUs allege that business and industries have been allowed to pursue anti-labour policies, such as contract labour, casual labour, outsourcing, and informal employment due to which there is no social security available for majority of workers and they are compelled to accept low-quality exploitative jobs. Many of the workers have not even the status of a worker since they have not been supplied any written job letters. (IPA Service)
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