Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], November 12 (ANI): Around 2,000 to 3,000 workers engaged in road construction and maintenance in Himachal Pradesh are facing uncertainty over their livelihoods amid the outsourcing of government and Border Roads Organisation (BRO) works to private contractors, prompting the Deepak Project Workers Union (INTUC) to seek urgent intervention from the state and Central governments.
A delegation of the union met Revenue and Tribal Development Minister Jagat Singh Negi in Shimla on Thursday and urged him to take up the issue with the Union Ministry of Defence and BRO authorities, demanding that strategic border roads should not be handed over to private contractors.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, INTUC state vice-president and Deepak Project Workers Union in-charge Bihari Sahyogi said the union had earlier met Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu during his visit to Kaza, where he had asked the workers’ representatives to meet him in Shimla. Tribal Affairs Minister Jagat Singh Negi had also invited them to discuss their grievances.
Sahyogi said nearly 2,000 workers were engaged in BRO’s border road projects, while the total number of affected labourers, including those working in other areas of Kinnaur, was around 3,000.
He said the construction of strategic roads, including the historic Hindustan-Tibet Road, had been undertaken by BRO since the early 1960s, and questioned the decision to increasingly outsource such works to private companies.
“We demand that the Himachal Pradesh government should intervene and raise the issue with the Defence Ministry to ensure that strategic border roads are not handed over to private contractors. BRO should execute these works itself so that the jobs of local labourers remain protected and their families do not lose their source of livelihood. There are security considerations as well, as these are strategically important border roads,” he said.
He further argued that outsourcing of strategic road infrastructure could have implications beyond employment, as BRO had traditionally carried out such works from a national security perspective.
Sahyogi pointed out that BRO received projects and funding through three Central ministries.
Defence, Home Affairs and Road Transport and Highways and urged the state government to ensure that local workers were not adversely affected by decisions to transfer these works to private companies.
Raising concerns over the working conditions of Casual Paid Labourers (CPLs), he said many workers had served for decades without adequate service benefits, job security or retirement benefits.
He claimed that until recently, workers were entitled to only three national holidays August 15, January 26 and October 2 and were not provided casual leave, sick leave or earned leave.
“These workers have been working since 1962 and continue in service until retirement without proper service benefits. There is no gratuity or adequate retirement security, and the system is virtually hire-and-fire, where a worker can be employed today and removed tomorrow,” he said.
He added that following the formation of the Deepak Project Workers Union in 2021 and its subsequent efforts, some labour-law provisions had started being implemented, including maternity leave for women workers, with support from Chief Minister Sukhu and Minister Negi.
The union also demanded effective implementation of welfare provisions for registered workers, including benefits funded through the one per cent labour cess. These include financial assistance for children’s education and marriage, medical assistance and compensation in cases of accidents and deaths.
Sahyogi urged the Chief Minister to issue necessary directions to the concerned welfare board to ensure timely delivery of benefits, particularly for workers engaged in perennial and year-round jobs.
“Workers who are engaged in perennial jobs throughout the year should receive the service benefits they are entitled to. We have raised several welfare-related cases with the Chief Minister, and many have been settled. We want the remaining cases to be addressed and the workers to receive their benefits on time,” he said.
The union also appealed to the Narendra Modi-led Central government to review its outsourcing and privatisation policies, arguing that transferring government works to contractors and companies would further reduce employment opportunities for local labourers.
The union president, Sonam Chhodan, appealed directly to Chief Minister Sukhu to ensure that road construction and maintenance works were retained within the government employment system rather than being handed over to private contractors.
“I want to request Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu to ensure that the works currently being undertaken by our workers are not handed over to contractors or private companies. These works should remain within the government system so that unemployed local people continue to get employment,” he said.
Chhodan said workers had travelled from distant areas to Shimla to raise their concerns, as outsourcing was already affecting employment opportunities for labourers.
She said around 2,000 to 3,000 workers were associated with the affected works and feared that shifting projects to private contractors could leave many without jobs.
“We have come here from such distant areas because our work is being transferred to contractors and companies. When this happens, our workers lose their opportunities. Many of us have no alternative means of livelihood. If our work is taken away, where will we go? Will we eventually be forced to take to the streets?” she said.
The union reiterated its demand for an urgent meeting with the concerned BRO authorities and government representatives to secure existing employment, prevent arbitrary termination and ensure statutory labour and social security benefits for workers who have contributed to the construction and maintenance of roads in Himachal Pradesh’s strategically important border regions. (ANI)
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