Open Statement for immediate release to the press

January 18th, 2011

Government of India Must Immediately Stop Perpetuating Forced/Bonded Labour

We the undersigned are deeply distressed at the recent decision by the Prime Minister (in a letter dated 31st
December 2010) to delink MGNREGA wages from the Minimum Wages Act even while indexing the
wage rate under NREGA to Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labour. The Government of India had
already undermined the wages under NREGA through a January 2009 notification, when it imposed an
unjust freeze at an arbitrary rate of Rs 100 per day on its wages. The Government of India’s use of Section
6(1) to delink NREGA wages from the Minimum Wage Act is not just bad in law but is also immoral in so
far as it seeks to remove the basis of Constitutional and legal protection of the lowest end of workers in the
wage hierarchy. With a consistent near double digit inflation rate, touching 9.7% and even higher food
price inflation the frozen NREGA wage, over the last 24 months has been significantly eroded in real
terms. In fact even after the recent indexing of wages, the MGNREGS wage, in at least 11 states, is lower
than the prevailing state minimum wage-- a situation that the Supreme Court of India has declared to be
forced labour, prohibited under Article 23 of the Constitution.

As it is even State minimum wages have also been artificially depressed, without any rationale, and ignore
the minimum need-based norms proposed in 1957 by the 15th Indian Labour Conference. These norms were
not only endorsed by the Supreme Court but further enhanced by additional 20% in the Unichoy Vs State
of Kerala in 1961 and 25% in the Reptakos Brett vs their workmen in 1991. If these norms are followed,
given current rural prices, the minimum wage would be at least Rs. 250 per day. But the Government of
India has not only blatantly disregarded these minimum wage setting norms, but is continuing to pay a
meagre real wage of just Rs. 100 per day since January 2009 under NREGA.

There is overwhelming legal and political consensus on the need to pay minimum wage in MGNREGS
works:
• The Andhra Pradesh High Court in WP No. 11848/2009 suspended the January 2009 notification on
freezing the minimum wage for NREGA. The High Court stated that Government being the agency for
implementing minimum wages cannot itself violate the minimum wages. In addition, governments of
Tripura, Karnataka, Punjab, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh had also
requested an amendment of the January 2009 notification as their state minimum wages were
above the notified wage rate. Both the Government of India and the state Government of Andhra
Pradesh are facing contempt proceedings since.

• GoI’s own law officer, the Additional Solicitor General, Ms. Indira Jaising referring to the PUDR Vs
Union of India case and Article 23 of the Constitution of India has said that payment of less than
minimum wage in NREGA works will amount to forced labour. She also cited the Kamani Metals and
Alloys vs their workmen case in which the Supreme Court observed that minimum wage must be paid
‘irrespective of the extent of profit, the financial condition of the establishment or the availability of
workmen on lower wages.’

• Chief Ministers of the states of Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala have written to the Prime
Minister requesting MoRD’s compliance with the Minimum Wage Act

• The Chairperson of UPA, Mrs Sonia Gandhi too has written to the Prime Minister calling his attention
to find urgent resolution of this matter.

• The Labour Ministry has reiterated its “fundamental objection” to Section 6(1), warning that using 6(1)
 to allow payment of less than prevailing state minimum wage will not stand legal scrutiny.

• The National Advisory Council, headed by Mrs. Gandhi, also recommended that minimum wages be
paid to NREGS workers.

• 15 eminent jurists and lawyers including M N Venkatachaliah and J S Verma (both former Chief
Justice of India), V R Krishna Iyer, P B Sawant, K Ramaswamy, Santosh Hegde (all former judges of
the Supreme Court), A P Shah (former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court) and Dr. Upendra Baxi, Dr.
Mohan Gopal, Fali S Nariman, Prashant Bhushan, Brinda Grover and others have urged the
Government of India to immediately revoke its unconstitutional notification and along with state
governments ensure that minimum wages are paid to all workers in India.

The Ministry of Finance in its letters dated December 1 and December 6, 2010 has stated that the
Government will index the Rs 100 with inflation using wages as of April 1, 2009 as base for notification on
January 1, 2011. While indexing wages with inflation recognises the fall in real wages, it will not resolve
the core issue.

The Prime Minister has asked the rural development ministry to develop an index for fixing and revising
wages under rural job scheme NREGA. Till the new index is worked out, wages under the scheme will be
tied to inflation as measured by the consumer price index for agricultural labourers. The order will be
effective from January 1, 2011. A committee under the chairmanship of Pronab Sen has been formed to
devise an NREGA wage index. This is in itself worrisome as it will create yet another category of
categorising workers and thereby institutionalizing the discrimination.

The government’s refusal to pay even minimum wage on public works at a time when food prices keep
shooting up lays bare the Prime Minister’s promise that “no citizen of our country must sleep hungry”.
Moreover it is shocking that a government battling trust deficit as scam after scam privileging powerful
corporations become public, will let (comparatively minor) fiscal considerations override a constitutional
and humanitarian mandate.

We demand the Government of India:

1. Immediately implements Section 6(2) of the NREGA indexed to inflation in all states thereby
upholding the fundamental right to live of its poorest workers.
2. Immediately declares a national floor level need based wage based on the 15th ILC norms and
subsequent Supreme Court judgements on minimum wage fixation, below which no state minimum
wage can go.

1. Aruna Roy, Nikhil Dey and Shankar Singh (Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan)
2. Biraj Patnaik (Principal Adviser, Supreme Court Commissioners)
3. Kavita Srivastava (People’s Union for Civil Liberties)
4. Arundhati Dhuru (National Alliance of People’s Movements)
5. Medha Patkar, Narmada Bachao Andolan
6. Anuradha Talwar (Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity)
7. Dunu Roy (Hazards Centre)
8. Gautam Mody (New Trade Union Initiative)
9. Roma (National Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers)
10. Sandeep Pandey (Asha Pariwar)
11. Pradeep Baisakh (Journalist)
12. Yogendra Yadav (Senior Fellow, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies)
13. Annie Raja (National Federation of Indian Women)
14. Mythri Prasad- Aleyamma (Centre for Development Studies)
15. Sunil Kaul (The Ant)
16. Kamal Chenoy (Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University)
17. Anuradha Chenoy (Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University)
18. Ambarish Rai (Lok Sangharsh Morcha)
19. Dr. Rukmini Rao (Gramya Resource Centre for Women, Secunderabad)
20. Anurag Modi and Shamim Modi (Samajwadi Jan Parsihad, Jan Sangharsh Morcha and Shramik
Adivasi Sanghthan)
21. Sachin Kumar Jain (Vikas Samwad)
22. Dr. Yogesh Kumar (Samarthan, Bhopal)
23. Kaveri Gill (Independent Development Economist and Researcher)
24. Madhuri (Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan)
25. Noor Zaheer (Writer and Social Activist)
26. Ashish Ranjan and Kamayani Swami (Jan Jagran Shakti Sangathan, Bihar)
27. Dipa Sinha (Reseach Scholar, Jawaharlal Nehru University)
28. Nandlal Prasad (Lok Samiti, Varanasi)Ajay Patel (Mazdoor Manch/AASRA)
29. Ankita Aggarwal (Right to Food Campaign Secretariat)
30. Jawahar Mehta (Jharkhand Gramin Mazdoor Sangh)
31. Abhay Kumar (Grameen Coolie Karmikara Sangathane)
32. Richa Singh (Sangtin Kisan Majdoor Sangthan Sitapur)
33. Reetika Khera (Visitor, Centre for Development Economics)
34. Karuna Muthiah (Right to Food Campaign, Tamil Nadu)
35. K.B.Singh (Social Worker, Madhya Pradesh)
36. Arun Tyagi (Jan Pahal, Madhya Pradesh)
37. Ishtiyaque Ahmad (Amam Trust)
38. Rupesh (Lok Parishad, Bihar)
39. Prof Om P Damani (IIT Bombay)
40. Anirban Kar (Economics Department, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University)
41. Sowmya Kidambi (Director, SSAAT, Government of Andhra Pradesh)
42. Kundan Kumar (Senior Project Manager, Igate Global Solutions)
43. Guru (AID Bangalore)
44. Anindita (NREGA Researcher)
45. Anand Sivaraman (Entrepreneur)
46. Nandini Nayak (School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London)
47. Mohan Bhagat (Professor, Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park)
48. Arshad Ajmal (Sahulat Microfinance Society)
49. Jayant Thakur (Lawyer)
50. Arudra Burra (Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Law, University of California at Los Angeles
51. Sharukh Alam (The Patna Collective)
52. Vikalp Mishra (University of Alabama, Huntsville)
53. Anuj Grover (AID Delhi)
54. Anjani Kumar
55. R. Selva Ganapathy (AID Delhi)
56. Pritish Bose (Shramajibee Samanvay Committee, West Bengal)
57. Dr. Shakeel Rahman (CHARM, Patna)
58. Ranjan (Nidan, Bihar)
59. Albert Joseph, Executive Director, FVTRS
60. L.S Ghonoidoss, Sucwlworn, West Bengal
61. Fr. Anthony Karik, President, FVTRS, West Bengal
62. Pradeep Mahapatra, Udyama, Orissa
63. PAHAD
64. Dillip Verma Bal, SRUJAN, Orissa
65. Fr. Corlls Gonsalves, Don Bosco, Maharastra
66. Levkish Viaka, Amar Shaheed Chitra Sangathan, Uttar Pradesh
67. K. Mahasa Sundra, Pondicherry
68. Nandkumar Dhande, Priyadasshum, Maharastra
69. Darade Sunil, Maharashtra Jantik Shishan Ahmadnagar
70. P Kampe, Byancun Sena
71. Dragpal Singh, HVSS
72. Anna John, SRWD, West Bengal
73. Khairuinsa N Shan, KDDC, Karnataka
74. R Y Swamy Naik, HELP Hirigur, Karnataka
75. Sr. Cecil, Christ Raja Ashram, Rajasthan
76. Angumahato, Lokhit Sen, Jharkhand
77. Sachi Kumari, CSS , Jharkhand
78. H F Akki, NEEDS
79. M H Angakri, Sarvodya, Karnataka
80. D G Chibbori, I W S Karnataka
81. G Chabradhururao, Y C D Andhra Pradesh
82. Karamat Ali Khan, NIPDIT, Orissa
83. Sr. Annie Davis, Uttar Pradesh
84. Henry Sach, St. Joseph’s Convent College, Jharkand
85. A. Isac Singh, SWAN, Tamil Nadu
86. Sr. Ann Maria, Kristi Jyoti
87. Mohinuddin Shah, West Bengal
88. Fr. Sir P Job, ADCI S W Society, Kerela
89. Hardkishore Prasad, Rajasthan
90. Sohrab, GRASS
91. Sukhbal Singh, GRASS
92. Fr. Sukumar, KECYKS (West Bengal)
93. Ancul, GRASS
94. Gouulananda Ojha India Development Project, Orissa
95. Nasim Ansari, Tarun Cletra, Uttar Pradesh
96. Sr. Mabul Pinto, Karnataka
97. Anpama, Jharkand
98. Sr. Sadhana, Uttar Pradesh
99. Hari Shankar Rant, Kandhamal, Orissa
100. Suraj Singh, Uttar Pradesh
101. Fr. K. D Joseph, KDSSS, Andhra Pradesh
102. Arun Kumawat, Rajasthan
103. Udaiveer VishwaKumar, Sahas Sewa Sansthan, Uttar Pradesh
104. Senastian K, Jeevana, Kerela
105. Fr. Regimon Cyriac, SVS, Jharkhand
106. C. P Nicholas, FVTRS, Bangalore
107. Dr. P . Basak, FVTRS, Karnataka
108. B.K Panda, FVTRS, Karnataka
109. H.R Sunny, FVTRS, Uttar Pradesh
110. Prem Kumar Sinha, The Vigil, Bihar
111. S. Paranjhotay, CNI-SS, Nagpur
112. S Nageshwar, FVTRS
113. Subodh Kumar Pandey, AGYVS, Bihar
114. Fr. Veeresh, SMSSS, Karnataka
115. Francis Anthony, Institute of Social Research and Development, Madhya Pradesh
116. Shinoj PC, COD, Calicut
117. Sasikumar PB, Shvoyas, Kerela
118. Rosara Mohanti, Kalahandi Orissa
119. Pramila Patna, Kalahandi Orissa
120. Amrendra Kumar, SVWST, Jharkhand
121. Akokla Insorg, FVTRS
122. Prashanth, FVTRS, Bangalore
123. Arpana Bharti, FVTRS, Bangalore
124. Ankur Kachhwana, FVTRS, Jodhpur
125. Raju Teron, FVTRS
126. K Vijaya, VMMIL, Tamil Nadu
127. Sr. Sumitha, Krupalaya, Tamil Nadu
128. Biswaji Padhi, SRUSTI, Orissa
129. S Charides, WEEDS, Tamil Nadu
130. Rishi Riddhi Anhata, Shamayiti, West Bengal
131. Prajnamita, Shamayiti, West Bengal
132. Akhilesh Mishra, FVTRS, Rajasthan
133. L Pankajakshan, Santhigram, Kerela
134. A Isac Sinwalt, SWAN, Kanyakumari
135. Ram Shram Verma, LJSS, Uttar Pradesh
136. Pramod Kumar, Samchit Vikas Sansthan Basti, Uttar Pradesh
137. Raghuveer Acharta, FVTRS, Andhra Pradesh
138. Diviana Nayagi G, FVTRS, Karnataka
139. Usha R, FVTRS, Karnataka
140. Pawan k, Gurgaon
141. Trilochan Shastry, Dean, IIMB
142. Prof. Jean Dreze, Allahabad University
143. ICAN
144. Gabriele, D.
145. Madhulika Swami, Delhi
146. Nalini Nayak, Reader, PGDAV College, University of Delhi
147. Prof Pulin B. Nayak, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi
148. Ashutosh Swami, General Manager (Retd)Indian Railways
149. Dr. Urvi, Medical Professional, USA
150. Gautam Desai, USA
151. Dr. Rahul Thakur, Medical Professional, USA

Contact Persons:

Ruchi Gupta 991.020.6490

Shreya Bhattacharya 9811108328

Kamayani Swami 09771950248