Majithia Wage Awards : Special Labour Inspectors start working in Delhi

Delhi : Secretary General of IFWJ Parmanand Pandey said, ”We congratulate Government of Delhi for conducting surprise checks in the Delhi offices of Dainik Jagran and Dainik Bhaskar to find out the status of newspaper employees and about the implementation of Majithia Wage Awards. The raids were conducted by the special team of labour Inspectors, monitored by a senior PCS officer of U.P. cadre Kapil Kumar, presently on deputation to the Government of Delhi.”

Pandey said, ”We hope that the governments of other states will emulate the Government of Delhi to ensure the implementation of the Majithia Wage Board recommendations as per the directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court. Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal has virtually shown the path for them. He has assured the employees that no injustice would be done to them. Delhi government has sent a questionnaire to all Delhi newspapers/ magazines to prepare the data to be submitted to the Supreme Court. This questionnaire is, more or less, similar to the IFWJ questionnaire that has been to you all.

”Almost all newspapers in Delhi have taken recourse to the dirty tricks circumvent the Working Journalists Act. Most of their employees are on the contract basis where, they are deprived of the statutory benefits like gratuity and other allowances. Payments are made to them, not on the basis of the Wage Board recommendations, but according to an ingenious formula, which is known as CTC.”

Pandey said, ”All our journalists and non-journalists comrades working for different newspapers are requested to prevail upon their governments of their states not to lose any further time in appointing the Labour Inspectors and ask them to start their work in full swing so that report could be submitted in three months time to the Supreme Court.”