November 17, 2010

Center and Rajasthan State Governments Accede to Workers’ Demands After

Historic 47-Day Satyagraha

Today, on the 47th day of this historic Satyagraha, we will lift our dharna with
both the Center and State governments having agreed to the workers’ demands.
On November 11, Mrs Gandhi wrote to the Prime Minister communicating the
consensus reached in the NAC meeting on October 23, that workers should be paid
minimum wages as notified under Minimum Wages Act 1948 and called his attention to
find urgent resolution of the matter.
As an interim step to immediately mitigate the crisis, the letter suggested, “An
immediate solution could be reversion to section 6(2) of the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA.
This was discussed in the NAC meeting of October 23rd 2010 and is being suggested by
the Chief Ministers. It is line with the emergency and final recommendation of the
Central Employment Guarantee Council’s Working Group on Wages” and quotes the
Andhra Pradesh High Court order of July 2009 that: “by suspending the operation of the
impugned notification, sub-section (2) of Section 6 of the Rural Employment Guarantee
Act, would spring automatically into operation, treating as if the impugned notification
has not been made by the Central Government under sub-section (1) of Section 6”.
With the endorsement of our stand by Mrs. Gandhi, Chairperson of the NAC and
the UPA, we are assured that the rights of the workers will be respected, and the Central
government will urgently issue necessary orders in line with suggestions made by Mrs.
Gandhi.
Rajasthan Government too has agreed to our demands and has assured us in writing
of the following:
1. To index minimum wage with inflation
2. Set up mechanism to give NREGA workers compensation for late payments
3. The Collector of the Gudliya village (Tonk district) will take action by Nov 30 on
the complaint against payment of Rs 1 per day to 99 workers for eleven days of
work
 4. Register NREGA Workers’ Union on appeal against refusal order
5. Properly implement the NREGA piece-rate payment system to ensure that
payments are made in groups of five based on proper daily measurements, and
immediately discontinue the practice of making average wage payments
With these two documents, Rajasthan workers have won a historic victory not just for
themselves, but by incontrovertibly establishing the principles for workers’ rights, will
ensure cascading victories for workers across the country.
This 47-day historic Satyahraha has highlighted many issues of democratic and
administrative significance. Through administrative expenditure analysis, the Satyagraha
has exposed the self-serving structure of the administration, which leave negligible
money for even workers’ and citizens basic needs. The Satyagraha has also proposed
solutions to establish the administration’s accountability. Workers from the most
marginalized sections have come to the Statue Circle to present their demands through
public hearings and establish basic rights of all citizens.
The dharna has been a remarkable show of solidarity as diverse peoples have come
together on issues of basic human values, dignity and development. We conclude the
dharna by lighting workers’ diwali diyas on this day of Eid.
The dharna marks with deep respect the memory of Shri LC Jain who passed away on
November 14. Mr. Jain was a great alternate political leader who kept democratic
institutions and democracy alert to constitutional processes. He recently expressed
solidarity for the dharna even while ailing in the ICU.

Nikhil Dey
For the SR Abhiyan